Meeting Indian opposition party, BJP Chief, Rajnath Singh to enhance the bilateral ties between the India and the U.S., a top American Congressman, Brad Sherman hailed India as one of the vital strategic allies of the Washington government.
"I am pleased to continue to work with Indian leaders and the Indian American community to strengthen ties between the world's largest democracies, India and the United States," said the Congressman after meeting Singh at the Capitol Hill according to the Press Trust of India.
The two leaders discussed a wide-range of topics including economic enhancement, security and cultural ties between the two nations.
Sherman, also an active member of the Congressional Caucus in India and Indo-Americans, met with several Indian leaders in recent months, including kingpins from the Indian Congress government and the opposition party.
As leaders in India are debating about Narendra Modi's visa issues, the Washington government reaffirmed that if the chief minister of Gujarat, a major Indian state, applies for a visa again, his application will be looked into like any other application. Washington has reservations over issuing visa to the chief minister because of the 2002 human rights violations in the state during his leadership.
Speaking to the media, Singh said he didn't raise the issue of Modi's visa with the American leader during his three-day hectic visit to the country.
"This is not our issue. This is an issue for US administration," said Singh adding Modi is a "very, very" popular leader of the country.
"The US does not take a decision on visa issues under pressure. No, we evaluate them case by case, and we wouldn't speak to it publicly anyway. But of course, if he applied, it would be considered," said U.S. state department spokesperson Jen Psaki at press briefing Wednesday.
