Indian-Americans keen about PM Modi's address to US Congress

Washington: Indian-Americans in the US are looking forward to listening to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to a joint session of the US Congress with American lawmakers flooding with requests from the community members for tickets to the visitor’s gallery on 8 June. A large number of Indian-Americans are disappointed by not being able to get tickets of the visitor’s gallery for the event. Indian-Americans from across the US are flying to Washington DC to listen Modi in person. “It’s a dream come true,” Chicago-based Bharat Barai said. [caption id=“attachment_2800670” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Reuters[/caption] “I am sure after listening to him, people of this country and Congressmen would realise the importance Modi attaches to the India-US relationship,” he said. “This is a speech, which I would like to watch in person. I do not want to miss it,” said MR Rangaswami, a Silicon Valley-based successful investor and entrepreneur, who is flying from California to attend Modi’s event at the Capitol Hill. Rangaswami, the founder of Indiaspora, is among the lucky few who have managed to get a ticket to the visitors’ gallery of the House Chambers, which has limited number of seats. Congressional sources told PTI that lawmakers are having a tough time in declining requests for a ticket to the joint address by Modi. In fact, most of the Congressmen have been allocated one ticket each. Given the great demand for tickets, Congressional sources said at one point of time, there was consideration for erecting a huge tent for Indian-Americans to watch the speech live. But the idea was shelved because of Congress’ protocol. The speech would be telecast nationwide live on C-Span, a cable and satellite television network. “The invitation (to the Prime Minister) itself shows the status of the relationship and how far we have come,” Swadesh Chatterjee, an eminent Indian-American, said. Chatterjee, who played a key role in reviving the India-US relationship after the Pokhran nuclear tests, vividly remembers how he and many other Indian-Americans had to lobby for months in the Congress to invite the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to address a joint session of the Congress on 14 September, 2000. “And this time, we had no role to play. Congressmen themselves wrote to the Speaker (of the House of Representatives) to invite Modi to address the joint session of the Congress. And it took no time for Speaker (Paul) Ryan to invite India’s Prime Minister,” said North Carolina-based Chatterjee. “Members of Congress are looking forward to hearing from Prime Minister Modi about growing US-India ties and the numerous ways the two countries can deepen their strategic partnership even further,” said Ronak D Desai, an international Security Fellow at New America and an Affiliate at the Belfer Center’s India and South Asia Programme at Harvard University. “Lawmakers are eager to hear from Prime Minister Modi about the ways the United States and India can collaborate together to be a force of global and regional stability and deepen their cooperation even further. The partnership enjoys rare bipartisan support, and the us will continue to play a central role in moving it forward in a host of key arenas,” Desai said. In a conference call with reporters, Richard Rossow, senior fellow and Wadhwani Chair in US-India Policy Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Modi being invited to address the Congress is a significant development. Manmohan Singh was the last Indian Prime Minister to address a joint meeting of the Congress on 19 July, 2005. Earlier addresses have been by Atal Bihari Vajpayee (14 September, 2000), P V Narasimha Rao (18 May, 1994) and Rajiv Gandhi (13 July, 1985). Modi’s engagement at the US Capitol on 8 June is expected to be kicked off by a meeting with the top leaders of the Congress including House Speaker, Paul Ryan; House Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi; Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid. Thereafter Modi would address a joint meeting of the Congress, wherein he is expected to lay out his vision for relationship between the world’s largest and oldest democracies. Soon after the joint address, Ryan would host a lunch for the Prime Minister at the Capitol. This will be attended by top Congressmen. After lunch, the Prime Minister would attend a reception jointly hosted by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and House Committee on Foreign Affairs in association with the House Caucus for India and Indian Americans and the Senate India Caucus.