Close X
Tuesday, November 26, 2024
ADVT 
India

Modi-Obama summit in September, will end visa ban

Darpan News Desk IANS, 05 Jun, 2014 10:53 AM
    Nearly a decade after it denied him a visa and blacklisted him, the US is practically preparing to roll out the red carpet for Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is set to hold a summit meeting with President Barack Obama in Washington in September-end this year.
     
    According to official sources, Modi has expressed his keenness to give a push to the flagging Indo-US ties and has accepted Obama’s invite to visit Washington. 
     
    The US denied Modi a visa in 2005 over the Gujarat riots, in which over a 1,000 people, mostly Muslims were killed. Modi was Gujarat chief minister when the riots occured and the US State Department invoked a little-known US law passed in 1998 that makes foreign officials responsible for "severe violations of religious freedom" ineligible for visas. 
     
    After the swearing-in of Modi, who led the BJP to a spectacular victory in the general election, Obama in a message vowed to work closely together with the new Indian prime minister “for years to come”.
     
    Obama was quick to acknowledge Modi’s “resounding” victory in the election and extended an invitation to him to visit Washington – effectively ending the visa ban on him.
     
    Obama is believed to be keen to patch up the damage to Indo-US ties as fast as possible. His meeting with Modi will be the second within the span of a year with an Indian prime minister. He had met Manmohan Singh in September last year during the former prime minister’s visit to Washington enroute to the UN General Assembly.
     
    The proposed June 8 visit of US Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Desai Biswal, the Obama administration’s point person for South and Central Asia, to New Delhi is an indication of the urgency with which the US is keen to mend ties with the Modi government.
     
    Modi, whose move to reach out to South Asian neighbours during his swearing-in has been lauded, gave an indication of his foreign policy thoughts in interviews before coming to power. He had said that individual incidents should not be allowed to cloud bilateral relations – an apparent reference to the visa ban on him by the US.
     
    Bilateral ties, which had seen a cooling off during the latter years of UPA-II, suffered a setback with the handcuffing and strip search of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade last year for alleged visa fraud and underpaying her nanny. 
     
    The policy paralysis of the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government is seen to have crept into its bilateral ties as well, with little headway on many ticklish issues.
     
    The US is keen to get started with implementation of the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, which is stuck over India’s civil nuclear liability laws. The US is also keen to increase its defence ties with India, a major market, and also keen to push trade with India from the current around $100 billion annually to $500 billion by 2015.
     
    Indian Ambassador to the US S. Jaishankar, who is believed to be tipped for a bigger role in the Prime Minister’s Office, is also said to be flying down for consultations in South Block with regard to the upcoming Modi-Obama meet.

    MORE India ARTICLES

    Punjab pays record Rs.15,473 crore to farmers for wheat

    Punjab pays record Rs.15,473 crore to farmers for wheat
    With a bumper wheat crop in the state this year, the Punjab government has made a payment of Rs.15,473.15 crore to farmers for wheat procured by government agencies, an official said Tuesday.

    Punjab pays record Rs.15,473 crore to farmers for wheat

    Modi faces sea of expectations from diaspora, India-watchers

    Modi faces sea of expectations from diaspora, India-watchers
    With Narendra Modi taking over as prime minister, a host of expectations, recommendations and advice is pouring in for the BJP leader from overseas Indians.

    Modi faces sea of expectations from diaspora, India-watchers

    Narendra Modi meets SAARC leaders

    Narendra Modi meets SAARC leaders
    Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday met Presidents Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom of the Maldives and Mahinda Rajapakse of Sri Lanka here Tuesday.

    Narendra Modi meets SAARC leaders

    PM Modi's Cabinet: Jaitley gets Finance, Defence; Rajnath gets Home, Sushma Foreign

    PM Modi's Cabinet: Jaitley gets Finance, Defence; Rajnath gets Home, Sushma Foreign
    Arun Jaitley has turned out to be the most important person in the new government after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with three heavy portfolios of finance, defence and corporate affairs, it was announced Tuesday.

    PM Modi's Cabinet: Jaitley gets Finance, Defence; Rajnath gets Home, Sushma Foreign

    The India that Narendra Modi inherits

    The India that Narendra Modi inherits
    India is looking forward to the tenure of its 15th Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, with the expectation that he would take the country out of the muddle and disorder that is driven by deeply ingrained thoughts and beliefs. We, as Indians would have to fight battles of the mind to overcome the challenges we face.

    The India that Narendra Modi inherits

    From wannabe Miss India to cabinet minister - phenomenal rise of Smriti Irani

    From wannabe Miss India to cabinet minister - phenomenal rise of Smriti Irani
    From promoting beauty products, to contesting the Miss India beauty pageant, to becoming the country's most sought after 'bahu', and on Monday being sworn in as a minister in the Narendra Modi government - 38-year-old Smriti Irani's life has been a saga of meteoric rise to fame and success.

    From wannabe Miss India to cabinet minister - phenomenal rise of Smriti Irani