Nancy Powell to meet Narendra Modi

Nancy Powell-Narendra meeting may take place in Gandhinagar on Thursday

Acknowledging they might have to do business with Narendra Modi, a leader considered a "mass murderer" by a section of the US administration, American Ambassador Nancy Powell will meet Modi on his home turf, Ahmedabad, on Thursday or Friday.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders said at last the US had realised it would be unwise to continue treating Modi as an untouchable.

It was during the tenure of US Ambassador David Mulford in New Delhi that pressure from evangelical Christian and left-liberal lobbies (especially of Indian origin) in the US forced Washington to withdraw permission to Modi to enter the US.

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The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) led the charge against Modi. "The State Department revoked his visa under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which prohibits foreign government officials who are 'responsible for or directly carried out, at any time, particularly severe violations of religious freedom' from obtaining US visas," said the USCIRF. "We have not seen changes that would warrant a policy reversal," said Commission Chair Felice D Gaer in 2008.  "As official bodies of the government of India have found, Narendra Modi is culpable for the egregious and systematic human rights abuses wrought against thousands of India's Muslims.  Mr Modi must demonstrate to the State Department and to the American people why he - as a person found to have aided and abetted gross violations of human rights, including religious freedom - should now be eligible for a tourist visa."

US officials told news agencies they still hold this view. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh referred last month to Modi as having presided over 'mass massacre on the streets of Ahmedabad'.

Britain became the first European country to end an informal boycott on meeting Modi, which had been in place since the riots. Other European countries followed suit last year. Germany was the most recently, having hosted Modi to lunch along with ambassadors of other EU nations in January

The US consul general met Modi two years ago, and Republican lawmakers recently visited Gujarat and invited him to the United States. However, as of last year the US State Department said it had not moved to reconsider its stance on the visa.

Indian diplomacy was at its polished best in handling questions about Modi. Despite a foreign minister, who has never minced words about Modi's human rights record, the Ministry of External Affairs conceded it was they who had enabled the meeting. "It is very normal for a foreign diplomat or ambassador to make requests to the MEA to facilitate their meeting with the any constitutionally elected representative. This request has been made by the ambassador of a country with whom we have friendly relations. The request was made quite some time back. The meeting is going to take place this week."

A US Embassy Spokesperson said Nancy Powell's Ahmedabad visit was "part of our concerted outreach to senior political and business leaders, which began in November to highlight the US-India relationship."