U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner has sent a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in which he said he would be “very interested,” in exploring the possibility of him visiting the U.S. Capitol and addressing a joint meeting of Congress “should your travels bring you back to our country in the months and years ahead.”
In the letter dated July 30, which The Hindu obtained on Friday, Mr. Boehner added, “If not for the unpredictability of the House schedule in late September of this year, an invitation for you to address a Joint Meeting during your upcoming trip to the U.S. would have been extended.”
Earlier The Hindu reported that plans for Mr. Modi’s Capitol Hill address were in jeopardy owing to Congressmen, especially Republicans, being keen to kick off their campaigns for the November mid-term elections, with the result that Congress will not be in session during the week of September 22, when Mr. Modi is likely to be in Washington.
Until greater clarity had emerged surrounding the dates of the current session of the U.S. Congress, there was burgeoning enthusiasm for the proposal for Mr. Modi’s address on Capitol Hill, with 80 Congressmen writing to Mr. Boehner urging him to extend an invitation to South Block.
In one such letter Congressmen said, “Offering this invitation to India’s visiting Prime Minister would provide him the opportunity to directly convey to the U.S. Congress his view of what the U.S.-India relationship holds for the future.”
Bipartisan resolutionAdditionally on July 30 the U.S. Senate introduced a bipartisan resolution calling for the address and also pressing for the U.S. to “nominate and confirm an Ambassador to India as soon as possible,” and follow that up by developing a “clear strategic plan for its relationship with India.”
A few days before that resolution top Republican Senator John McCain said that while he was “pleased that President Obama invited the Prime Minister to visit Washington… I wish he had extended that invitation sooner.”
However in his letter last week Mr. Boehner wished Mr. Modi “best of luck for a safe and successful journey to the U.S. in September,” he reiterated that the U.S. looked forward to working with Mr. Modi and the Indian government.
