The Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel will travel with a high-level delegation to invite industrialists, investors, and technology leaders to the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2027.
Last time, it was the then Gujarat CM, Keshubhai Patel, who had officially visited the US and the year was 1995 and then also in 2000.
The visit will also mark the launch of Gujarat's efforts to attract foreign investment for the upcoming summit.
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| Blogger and Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel - 2022 |
Narendra Modi, who succeeded Keshubhai Patel as Gujarat CM, was denied a US visa in 2005. He visited the US only after becoming Prime Minister in 2014. After Modi became Prime Minister, his successor Anandiben Patel chose China for her first foreign visit as Gujarat CM in 2015. She is now the governor of Uttar Pradesh.
Vijay Rupani, who served as Gujarat CM from 2016 to 2021, visited Russia during his second stint in office but did not undertake an official US-Canada tour.
Rupani did, however, meet Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during Trudeau's visit to Gujarat in 2018. The denial of US visa to Modi was a major controversy of the time.
In March 2005, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the US decision to deny a visa to then elected Gujarat Chief Minister. Dr Singh called it an "uncalled for decision" that betrayed a "lack of sensitivity and due courtesy to an elected authority."
He stated that it was inappropriate to use mere allegations instead of due legal process to judge a constitutional authority.
The Foreign Secretary had summoned the Deputy Chief of the US Mission to formally convey India's strong disapproval.
Besides refusing Modi a diplomatic visa, the US embassy revoked a valid tourist and business visa under the provisions of the US immigration and nationality act, an embassy statement said.
“This act makes any foreign government official who was responsible for, or directly carried out, at any time … severe violations of religious freedom, ineligible for a visa,” it said. “Mr Modi as chief minister was responsible for the performance of state institutions at the time in Gujarat,” embassy spokesman David Kennedy had said.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair), the largest US Muslim civil liberties group, applauded Washington‘s decision.
Nine years later everything changed.
Given India’s growing status as a strategic partner to the US, 2002 riots and related concerns were pushed to one side by the Obama administration in 2014 during Modi’s Washington visit.
Barack Obama received Modi with a Gujarati salutation - "kem chho".
The White House saw India under Namo then as a vital trade partner, a big new market, a key player in tackling climate change, and an important ally in facing down the challenges, economic and military, posed by China.
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| Bear Hug Diplomacy |
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