After the UK and the EU, it?s now the turn of the US to ready its red carpet for the BJP?s PM-in-waiting Narendra Modi.
The prestigious Wharton University may have bowed to pressure exerted by the anti-Modi lobby within the academia in the US by nixing an invitation sent to him last month, but the Gujarat CM on Thursday finally got a much-awaited invitation to visit the US by a delegation comprising some American Congressmen who met him in Ahmedabad and were clearly bowled over by the Gujarat growth story.
The invitation comes as a shot in the arm for the BJP leader, who has, in the past, been denied a visa by the US administration over his alleged involvement in 2002 Gujarat riots.
Following the hour-long closed door meeting, Modi tweeted, ?I spoke to the US delegation about how Gujarat has adopted a faster, inclusive and environment friendly process of development. Am thankful to the members of US Congress and business persons for their kind words on Gujarat’s development.”
The US Congressional and business delegation was represented by Republicans Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Aaron Schock and Cynthia Lummis, along with some business representatives.
Hailing Modi as a very ?dynamic? leader, Aaron Schock, a Republican member of the House of Representatives from Illinois, after meeting Modi, said: ?We are grateful to CM Narendra Modi. We learnt about development. It is much easier to do business in Gujarat. Modi is very dynamic person. We have extended an invitation to the chief minister to visit US and share his ideas with us.”
Another Congress member Kathy Rogers said: ?We will work with the US State Department. We will be pleased to have Modi in US. We will continue to work towards making Modi’s visit happen.”
During the interaction, Schock pointed out that the people in the US were keen on working with Gujarat and that they were impressed by the way the state has facilitated investment. As per the official press release, Schock said that there was enormous potential to work together with Gujarat. It may be recalled that following Modi’s fourth consecutive victory in the 2012 Assembly elections Schock had made a statement congratulating Modi on the floor of the US House of Representatives. Modi has been denied visa by the US following the 2002 riots.
The 18-member delegation arrived in Gandhinagar at the official residence of Modi around noon, following their visit to Sabarmati Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad and held over an hour-long closed-door meeting with him and high ranking state officials.
“We are impressed by his statement ‘minimum governance, maximum governance.’ We have invited him to come over to the US and share with us the work that he has done,” a member of the delegation said after meeting Modi.