U.S. Game To Do Business With Any Indian Government Elected Next

Washington: Amid a mixed reaction to U.S. Ambassador Nancy Powell's meeting with Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, the U.S. reiterated its readiness to do business with whatever government emerges from India's May elections.

"I know that there's a lot of attention being paid to this one, but it really is part of our broader outreach," State Department spokesperson Marie Harf told reporters in a telephonic briefing in snowbound Washington.

"And we look forward to working closely with whatever government the Indian people choose in the upcoming elections," she said insisting that the Powell-Modi meeting Thursday was just part of a broader outreach to Indian politicians before the elections.

Asked "if that includes Mr. Modi himself," Harf repeated: "Whatever government is chosen."

Analysts see Powell's Thursday meeting with the Gujarat chief minister as a clear indication of the changing U.S. stance towards Modi, whom it was treating as a political pariah since 2005 when it revoked his visa for his alleged complicity in 2002 Gujarat riots.

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