A day after the Gujarat court gave a clean chit to Narendra Modi in the Gulbarg Society massacre during the riots, the US government made it clear that there has been no change in its visa policy on Modi, and the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate is welcome to apply for a visa and wait for a review which will be grounded in American law. After Modi was denied a diplomatic visa to the US in 2005, the US also revoked the B-1/B-2 visa which had been issued to him earlier Not just that, on November 18, 2013, Congressman Joe Pitts and Congressman Frank Wolf introduced H. Res. 417, a Resolution intended to influence India’s upcoming elections by focusing on the 2002 Gujarat riots some 11 years after the fact.
USINPAC (US India Political Action Committee) has successfully led a grassroots lobbying effort in Washington DC to stop the above Resolution from going to the House Floor for a vote.
On December 7, 2013, less than one month after the Resolution’s introduction, Chairman Ed Royce of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs to which H. Res. 417 was referred issued a statement at USINPAC’s request:
“As Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, I am focused on the critically important relationship between the United States and India. Our two nations share many common values and strategic interests. India plays a central role in the Asia-Pacific region, and we must do our part to ensure that India is a centerpiece of America’s rebalance to Asia. H. Res. 417 weakens, rather than strengthens, the friendship between the U.S. and India. The resolution runs counter to all the hard work that the American people, particularly those in the Indian American community, have done to improve the relationship.”
The tide against the anti-Modi resolution – which was also supported by the Coalition Against Genocide (CAG), a long-time Modi denouncer – could mean that the White House is open to diplomatic relations with the BJP leader should he win the elections next year.
Taking an aggressive stance against the US government, senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha hit out at the US government for denying visa to its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi saying to proclaim the Gujarat chief minister guilty even when there was no evidence against him despite several probes amounts to “immature diplomacy” and sets a precedent for a “reciprocal” response. Sinha claimed that after the 2014 polls, President Barack Obama would have to handover the visa to Modi himself or risk losing his own entry to India.
A combative Sinha asked, “Will the US ever treat diplomats from China or Brazil in this fashion? We have to send a strong message that India is back in the hands of a strong leader after the 2014 polls. Either Obama comes to Delhi to handover the visa to Modi or we will have to cancel his visa.”