Modi to visit the US in June, may address Joint Meeting of CongressTop Stories

April 20, 2016 14:47
Modi to visit the US in June, may address Joint Meeting of Congress

The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit the US on June 7 and 8, a bipartisan group of four top American lawmakers said and has asked the Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan to invite him for a joint meeting of the Congress.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit Washington on June 7 and 8 of this year," Congressmen Ed Royce, Eliot Engel, George Holding and Ami Bera said in a letter to Mr Ryan.

"Given the depth of our relationship with India across a range of areas such as defence, humanitarian and disaster relief, space cooperation, conservation, and innovation, we believe that this is an ideal opportunity for the Congress to hear directly from the Prime Minister," they said.

"Therefore, we ask that you invite Prime Minister Modi to address a Joint Meeting of Congress. It is our understanding that if invited, the Prime Minister would accept," the four lawmaker said in their letter dated April 19.

"This renewed partnership has found champions in the leadership of both parties, including both President Clinton and President George W Bush and has been further emboldened in the United States by a strong, proud and growing Indian-American diaspora," the letter said.

"Our two countries have signed a defense framework agreement to increase military cooperation and the civilian nuclear agreement, signed in 2008, will result in the construction of nuclear power plants in India," the letter said.

"Additionally, the United States and India are forging closer ties to address humanitarian crises, such as the aftermath of the earthquake in Nepal, in the renewable energies sector and in space exploration. It is no wonder that the partnership has been characterised as the defining partnership of the 21st century," it said.

"The US-India relationship consistently garners strong bipartisan support. Inviting Prime Minister Modi to address a Joint Meeting will allow Congress to express support for this special global partnership," the four top American lawmakers said.

“We hope Prime Minister Modi will accept our invitation to address a joint session of Congress. During his earlier visits the schedules could not match. This time it looks possible," Mr Holding said.

“There are a few key areas where we may see "deliverables" during the summit. First, there remains a dangerous gap between our high-level views on global economic issues, particularly trade. While a leaders summit may not be able to bridge the divide over issues at the World Trade Organization, or develop a roadmap to induct India into a trade grouping, it offers another chance for our leaders to re-dedicate themselves to make real progress on our long-stalled negotiations over a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT). We may also see the first project agreement for civilian nuclear power development. A third tangible deliverable may be the signing of our Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Understanding (LEMOA), for which there was "in principle" agreement during Defense Secretary Ashton Carter's recent visit to India,” said Richard M. Rossow, Wadhwani Chair in U.S. India Policy Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

By Premji

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Narendra Modi  US visit  American lawmakers