The US President Barack Obama congratulated the BJP leader Narendra Modi on his historic win in the Indian election in a phone call made this afternoon, inviting him "to visit Washington at a mutually agreeable time to strengthen our bilateral relationship."
"The President noted he looks forward to working closely with Mr. Modi to fulfill the extraordinary promise of the U.S.-India strategic partnership, and they agreed to continue expanding and deepening the wide-ranging cooperation between our two democracies," said The White press secretary, commenting on the phone call. (See full readout here).
The invitation comes inspite of a long-standing visa ban against Mr. Modi visiting the US. In 2005, Mr. Modi was refused a visa due to the anti-Muslim riots that occurred in Gujurat, whilst he was Chief Minister.
"We congratulate Narendra Modi and the BJP on winning a majority of seats in this historic election. Once the government is formed, we look forward to working closely with the prime minister and the cabinet to advance our strong bilateral relationship based on shared democratic values," the White House spokesperson Jay Carney said earlier today.
Tweeting his congratulations the US Secretary of State John Kerry, said "look forward to working with you, growing shared prosperity, security with the world's largest democracy".
The deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes meanwhile tweeted: “After the largest democratic election in history, US congratulates the BJP for its victory and looks forward to working closely with new gov".
See also: Landslide victories for BJP in Indian election and AIADMK in Tamil Nadu (16 May 2014)
"The President noted he looks forward to working closely with Mr. Modi to fulfill the extraordinary promise of the U.S.-India strategic partnership, and they agreed to continue expanding and deepening the wide-ranging cooperation between our two democracies," said The White press secretary, commenting on the phone call. (See full readout here).
The invitation comes inspite of a long-standing visa ban against Mr. Modi visiting the US. In 2005, Mr. Modi was refused a visa due to the anti-Muslim riots that occurred in Gujurat, whilst he was Chief Minister.
"We congratulate Narendra Modi and the BJP on winning a majority of seats in this historic election. Once the government is formed, we look forward to working closely with the prime minister and the cabinet to advance our strong bilateral relationship based on shared democratic values," the White House spokesperson Jay Carney said earlier today.
Tweeting his congratulations the US Secretary of State John Kerry, said "look forward to working with you, growing shared prosperity, security with the world's largest democracy".
The deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes meanwhile tweeted: “After the largest democratic election in history, US congratulates the BJP for its victory and looks forward to working closely with new gov".
See also: Landslide victories for BJP in Indian election and AIADMK in Tamil Nadu (16 May 2014)