The United States has sought to refute External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid’s comment over its envoy’s upcoming meeting with BJP leader Narendra Modi, terming the interaction an “outreach” that does not signify any change in American policy.
Reacting to the American overture to Modi, Khurshid had commented in New Delhi on Tuesday that it would be interesting to know what US Ambassador Nancy Powell would tell Modi since India had been “lectured” on human rights issues “by some countries” in the past. “There are a lot of things that they will not and we should not put behind. The Holocaust is not put behind and if Holocaust is not put behind who are we to lecture them to say you put Holocaust behindIJ” Khurshid had said in a clear attempt to compare the genocide of Jews in Nazi Germany with the Gujarat riots.
State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki, when asked to react on Khurshid’s comment, said: “Well, we’d certainly refute that notion or that claim.” She went on to assert that the envoy’s meeting with Modi was like meetings that US diplomats hold with officials “from a range of backgrounds in many, many countries, including India”. Denying any change in US policy, inclusive of the question of issuing an American visa to Modi, Psaki spoke of the US’s “concentrated outreach to senior political and business leaders” in India in recent months. Stating that Powell’s meeting was “not a reflection of anything else than outreach to a broad range of officials”, she insisted: “There has been no changes in our policy per se.”
On the visa issue itself, Psaki stuck to the oft-repeated State Department line, noting: “There has been no change in our longstanding visa policy. When individuals apply for a visa, their applications are reviewed in accordance with US law and policy. This is not a reflection of any change.” “This is simply a meeting that…the Ambassador is going to be having on the ground. Nothing has changed about our visa policy,” she said, adding: “This is not a reflection of that changing, and certainly not a reflection of anything changing regarding our longstanding and strong advocacy for human rights around the world.”
Asked if the US “backpedalling” had anything to do with the projections that Modi could be a potential Prime Minister of India in a few months, the spokesperson went on to claim: “We don’t take positions in elections, and certainly this is not an example of us taking a position.” Meanwhile, commenting on the US decision to reach out to Modi, well-known South Asia analyst Ashley Tellis said: “I am glad the Ambassador’s meeting with CM Modi is finally occurring—and I hope they have a wide-ranging discussion on issues of importance to the bilateral relationship.”