Walz Had Co-Sponsored Resolution Critical Of Modi But Later Shifted

NEW YORK, NY (IANS) – Democratic Party’s vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz had co-sponsored when he was in Congress, a resolution praising the US government’s decision to deny Narendra Modi visa when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat.

But after Modi’s election as Prime Minister of India, Walz had a change of heart.

After attending PM Modi’s 2016 address to the joint session of Congress, Walz tweeted, “Joint session with Indian PM @narendramodi. World’s largest & oldest democracies together. Opportunity to strengthen work on common goals.”

Modi tweeted back, “Absolutely Representative Walz. Strong India-USA ties benefit the world immensely.”

The resolution was introduced in the House of Representatives in November 2013, but before the end of its term in 2014, Modi was elected Prime Minister, and the administration of President Barack Obama was scrambling to make peace with him.

It was not taken up by the House and quietly died in the Judicial and Foreign Affairs Committees and the Immigration Subcommittee it had been referred to.

Modi became a feted guest of Obama who had invited him for a visit to Washington in September 2014, making the visa issue moot.

Pennsylvania Republican Joseph Pitts had introduced the resolution and Walz was among the 51 co-sponsors.

Quoting reporting by the magazine Tehelka, the resolution said that in the 2002 Gujarat riots, “many of the people who participated in the violence said it was possible only because of the connivance of the state police and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi”.

It said that in Godhra, “58 Hindus were burnt alive in a train coach fire, and communal violence erupted in several Gujarati cities”.

It did not say who was responsible for the fire.