Addressing Congress, Modi calls for closer relations between India and U.S. - Washingtonpost

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, denied a visa to enter the United States for nearly a decade, on Wednesday addressed a joint meeting of Congress, declaring that India and the United States are “natural allies” and urging the two nations to establish even closer ties.

Modi leavened his speech with jokes about bipartisanship, Indian American immigrants and intellectual property, the latter being a thorny issue in talks about the financing of measures to slow climate change.

“I am informed that the working of the U.S. Congress is harmonious. I’m also told that you are well known for your bipartisanship,” he said to laughter. “Well you are not alone,” he added to more laughter. “Time and again I have also witnessed a similar spirit in the Indian Parliament. As you can see we have many shared practices.”

It was a particularly unusual address for Modi, who was barred from entering the United States for years because of his failure to stop a series of deadly riots in 2002 by Hindus against minority Muslims in the Indian state of Gujarat, where he was chief minister. Moreover, human rights groups remain concerned about Modi’s treatment of domestic critics and his failure to vigorously protect women’s rights.

But Modi struck a different tone Wednesday, hailing Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolent civil disobedience and its influence on the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., drawing a standing ovation from members of Congress. Modi said the proximity of the King memorial and the statue of Gandhi on Massachusetts Avenue “mirrors the closeness of ideals and values they believe in.”

He called Congress a “temple of democracy” and said that by inviting him to speak, “you have honored the world’s largest democracy.”

Modi also stressed the importance of the U.S.-India strategic partnership, noting that a “strong India is in America’s strategic interest.” He said India helped secure sea lanes crucial for trade, contributed soldiers to U.N. peacekeeping missions, gave aid to Afghanistan and sought to stem terrorism.

“India exercises more with the United States more than we do with any other partner,” Modi said, adding that the sale of U.S. military goods to India has increased “from almost zero to $10 billion in less than a decade.” Those sales have included mostly big-ticket items such as Chinook and Apache helicopters and P-8 reconnaissance planes.

Obama has reached out to Modi in the two years since the Indian leader became prime minister. His administration has been eager to counter China’s expansion. On Tuesday, a joint statement by the two leaders said that the United States would “work toward facilitating” the sharing of some of the most sensitive U.S. military technology with India, as the United States now does with only its closest allies. The two also said India would receive technologies that could be used for military purposes as well as nonmilitary. There have been some restrictions ever since India diverted peaceful nuclear technology to its nuclear weapons efforts. - Read More 

Addressing Congress, Modi calls for closer relations between India and U.S.

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