Co-chairs Of India Caucus Tell Speaker McCarthy To Invite Modi Address Of Congress

Photo: File photo of President Biden addressing a joint session of Congress.

WASHINGTON, DC (IANS) – The bipartisan leadership of an India-focused group of US lawmakers of the House of Representatives have called for extending an invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address a joint session of Congress during his upcoming state visit in June at the invitation of President Joe Biden.

“On June 22, 2023, President Biden is hosting Prime Minister Modi for an Official State Visit and a State Dinner. As State Dinners have come to signify the President’s utmost respect for visiting heads of state, granting a joint address to Congress is a commensurate honor for the leader of the world’s largest democracy and perhaps the most critical partner to countering China in the 21st century,” Representatives Ro Khanna, a Democrat, and James Waltz, a Republican, wrote in a joint letter on May 23 to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

“We firmly believe that inviting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to deliver a joint address to Congress would further strengthen the deep and enduring friendship between the US and India,” they added in the letter.

There were no indications if Speaker McCarthy, a Republican, will agree. If he does and Modi accepts the invitation, the latter will become the first Indian Prime Minister to address a joint session of US Congress twice. The first was in June 2016, in which he sought to project a new energy for the bilateral relationship with the two sides overcoming “the hesitations of history”.

The last Indian Prime Minister who was given a state dinner was Manmohan Singh; he was hosted by President Barack Obama. Singh was also the first foreign leader given a state dinner in Obama’s presidency.

Khanna and Waltz, are co-chairs of the India Caucus in the House of Representatives.