White House welcomes Modi’s victory

The White House welcomed the overwhelming victory of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha polls, offering its congratulations to the BJP on its “historic” win and assuring, “We look forward to working with [the new Indian government] once formed to advance our partnership.”

However, while numerous world leaders, including Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu and Australia’s Tony Abbott reportedly called Mr. Modi to personally congratulate him, U.S. President Barack Obama had not yet done so, at the time this story was filed, at around 11am on Friday Eastern Standard Time.

An official at the White House’s National Security Council press office told The Hindu that there was “nothing further to announce” at this point in terms of whether and when Mr. Obama would reach out to Mr. Modi. The President’s daily schedule sent to media did not include any agenda item for a call with Mr. Modi.

The U.S. has, since 2005, denied Mr. Modi an entry visa on the grounds that he has been linked to curtailments of religious freedom in the context of the 2002 Gujarat riots.

Some groups in the U.S. drew attention to the visa and Gujarat riots issue on Friday, and the Coalition Against Genocide (CAG), an umbrella group focusing on justice and accountability for the pogrom said that it “pledged to continue its struggle with renewed fervour in the wake of the election results in India.”

CAG Spokesperson Raja Swamy underscored Mr. Modi’s alleged links to the RSS cautioning that “During this election campaign, RSS leaders have been openly raking up contentious issues, posing a threat to communal harmony and increasing the prospect of violence against minorities.”

Reactions to the BJP’s stronger-than-anticipated victory in the elections, which became evident during the early hours of Friday local time, were nevertheless broadly positive.

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