U.S. Defends Meeting Modi; Terms It An Effort To Engage With Indian Leaders

Washington: The U.S.  has defended its decision for ambassador to India Nancy Powell to meet BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, arguing that this is part of its effort of increased engagement with Indian leaders.

A day after the U.S.  State Department confirmed that Powell would meet Modi in Gandhinagar later this week, its spokesperson told reporters that all relevant people required to take a decision were involved in the process, which basically overturned the nine-year-old U.S.  policy of non-engagement with Modi.

However, the official did not confirm if U.S.  Secretary of State John Kerry or U.S.  President Barack Obama were involved in it.

“These decisions don’t always rise up to every highest level. But certainly, all relevant individuals who needed to weigh in weighed in, and agreed that it was certainly an appropriate meeting to have,” State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters at her daily news conference.

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