US government denies Modi a visa

US government officials have confirmed that they will not issue Narendra Modi a visa.  Modi needed a visa to attend the World Gujarati Conference that was to be held at the end of August of which he was invited to attend by the organizers of the event.  Many of Modi's supporter's petitioned the government to grant Modi a visa but the attempts were fruitless.

Matthew Reynolds, the assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs said of the outcome "The Department of State is extremely sensitive to your concerns and we are cognizant of the human rights abuses Mr. Modi has committed.  We have thoroughly searched Department records and located no current nonimmigrant visa applications for Mr. Modi. However, should we receive an application, we assure you it will be adjudicated in strict accordance with the Immigration and Naturalization Act, including Section 212(a)(2)(G) which states that 'any alien who, while serving as a foreign government official, was responsible for or directly carried out, at any time, particularly severe violations of religious freedom, as defined in section 3 of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C 6402) is inadmissible.'"

An aide to Modi and BJP official said that "Right now the chief minister will not touch the visa issue which has become extremely sensitive. After he was refused entry into the US in 2005, the BJP had launched a scathing attack on the Bush administration. But non-resident Gujaratis told Modi to go slow on the issue, else they would be singled out in the US, their second home."

www.unitedstatesvisas.gov