USA remains cagey on Modi visa issue
"As you know, we don't talk about visa applications. We're looking forward to working with the new Indian government when they're elected," US State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said Tuesday.
"But I'm not going to speculate on that given, obviously, the results haven't been announced yet," she said.
Psaki, however, made it clear that heads of state and heads of government are eligible for A1 visa classification under the Immigration and Nationality Act 1952.
However, she added that "US law exempts foreign government officials, individuals - including heads of state and heads of government for certain potential inadmissibility grounds."
Psaki refused to give details on the matter and refused to speculate on the issue.
In February in a show of some reconciliation, U.S. Ambassador Nancy J. Powell met with Narendra Modi in Gandhinagar.
"This meeting was part of the U.S. Mission’s outreach to senior leaders of India’s major political parties in advance of the upcoming national elections," said an official US release then.
The meeting took place at Modi's residence at Gandhinagar in Gujarat. The move apparently signalled the end of Washington's nine-year boycott on Modi.
The US had first denied Modi a visa in 2005 over allegations that his government did nothing to stop the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Modi has also not applied for a US visa since the denial.
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