Congressman Ami Bera, the only Indian American in the US Congress at present, likes to play it safe when it comes to potential BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
So he won’t say much on whether the US should grant Mr Modi a visa to visit the country except that it’s a matter dealt with by his country’s state department and if he wants to visit the country, he should apply for a visa.
Mr Bera, the only third Indian American to be elected to the US House of Representatives, incidentally has his roots in Mr Modi’s state. His parents migrated from Gujarat to the US in the late 1950s where Mr Bera was born. While Mr Bera responded expansively to most questions addressed to him at an event organised by the Aspen Institute in the Capital on Monday, his reply to whether the US would give Mr Modi a visa was remarkably brief.
The US has denied Mr Modi a visa in 2005 and revoked his existing tourist/business visa.
Mr Bera also said that the impending drawdown in Afghanistan was an “opportunity for India-US partnership.”