U.S. Congressman Campaigns to Invite Narendra Modi

On how aware he is of the extent of violence, widely seen in India as being at the very least connived at by the Modi government, he said, "I am aware of the unfortunate violence in the region, but from what I have read and heard, there is no evidence that Mr Modi was behind or supported those actions. In fact, it appears as though Mr Modi has rightly made attempts to try to bring together the Hindu and Muslim groups to ensure that future violence does not occur. A goal everyone shares."

Mr Walsh said he has spoken to Mr Modi "briefly by phone."

He also said he knows about the conviction of Mr Modi's former education and children welfare minister Maya Kodnani but disagreed that brought complicity potentially a step closer to the chief minister.

"Mr Modi himself has not been convicted and therefore, as we hold in the United States, he is innocent until proven guilty. If we forbid every leader into this country because someone in his administration was involved in a scandal, the list of foreign leaders eligible to visit would be very small," he said.

Asked what in his judgment has compelled the Obama administration to maintain the ban originally imposed by the Bush administration, he replied, "Politics. I'm sure President Obama is trying to avoid further antagonizing the Pakistanis."