No US visa for Narendra Modi yet, says Blake

While acknowledging the economic progress and the exponential growth in Gujarat, which has made it an attractive state for investment, United States Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake said that there has been no review on the issuance of a visa for Chief Minister Narendra Modi to travel to America.

"No, there are no new developments on that. But, Gujarat remains a very important place for American investment. It's shown itself to be a very welcoming environment for American business to flourish. And we'll continue to promote investment, encourage investment into that state," said Blake, the Obama administration's point man for South Asia.

In March 2005, Modi was denied a visa for his alleged complicity in Gujarat's violence in 2002, which left nearly 2,000 people, mainly Muslims dead. He had applied for a visa to attend the Asian American Hotel Owners Association annual convention where he was to deliver the keynote address.

Interestingly, the refusal of the visa at the time to Modi came just two days after the visit of then US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to New Delhi. The Congress Party-led United Progressive Alliance government had summoned the then US deputy chief of mission at the American embassy in Delhi, who at the time was Blake, and lodged a strong protest over Washington's decision saying it "uncalled for."

The External Affairs Ministry at the time said, "The action on the part of the US embassy is uncalled for and displays lack of courtesy and sensitivity towards a constitutionally elected chief minister of a state of India."

The US embassy had said Modi's tourist and business visa issued in 1998, had been revoked and there was no chance he would be issued a diplomatic visa either. At the time, an angry Modi called the US decision "an insult to the Indian constitution and an attack on Indian sovereignty."

But the US held firm and did not issue him a visa, saying the decision had been taken under the provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act, "under which any foreign government official responsible for serious violation of religious freedom is ineligible for a visa."

Meanwhile, Blake, who returned from the Maldives after attending the 17th Summit of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation briefing reporters at the US State Department, said, Washington was elated over the continuing rapprochement between India and Pakistan, and the latter's decision to accord India most favored nation trade status.

He said there evidently was a dissipation of the concern by some SAARC nations about faster integration because of fears that "they would not be able to compete with India if they opened up their economies."

But Blake argued that "Sri Lanka's bilateral free trade agreement with India shows that that is a misplaced concern," and noted that "total volume of trade has quadrupled during the 11 years that their bilateral FTA has been in effect, and Sri Lankan exports to India have increased more than Indian exports to Sri Lanka."

He said that in his speech, "I explained our support for greater regional integration not only within South Asia, but between South and Central Asia and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's vision of a New Silk Road linking the economies of South and Central Asia in a web of trade, transit, and energy connections."

During the interaction that followed his opening remarks, Blake reiterated that "our view is the faster this regional integration can take place, not only within South Asia but between South Asia and Central Asia, the better for the people of the countries of both regions."

Thus, he said, "We encourage the countries to move as rapidly as possible to enhance integration. And again, we think that that would bring tremendous benefits to the people of South Asia, and that as integration proceeds in South Asia, it will open up important opportunities for Afghanistan, for Pakistan, and the countries of Central Asia to export more into this market."

"So things like the transit trade agreement between Afghanistan and Pakistan and extending that transit trade agreement into the countries of Central Asia are very, very important pieces of that, and again, very much part of the vision that Secretary Clinton has laid out," he added.

Asked about his recent visits to states such as West Bengal, Bihar and others, and if this was a deliberate attempt by the US to reach out directly to Indian states and if this was a way of avoiding the federal bureaucracy, Blake said, "First of all, we've always had many, many important links with the states. We have consulates all over India, and we attach great importance to working more closely with the states."

But he acknowledged, "We recently have begun an effort to try to enhance state-to-state ties between our two countries.  Special Representative Rita Jo Lewis recently made a trip to India with that in mind because we believe there are quite significant opportunities for individual American states to do more with their Indian counterparts."

"And indeed, there's quite a lot of dynamism at the state level in India, so we want to just try to capture that, and again, encourage state-to-state and city-to-city links. And so I think you'll see more of that in our relations over the next several years," Blake predicted.