Even as the Wharton-Narendra Modi controversy continues in India and the US, a prominent Congressman, Eni F. H. Faleomavaega, has congratulated the Gujarat Chief Minister for his re-election and said the BJP leader “may very well be India’s next Prime Minister”.
Ranking Member Faleomavaega of the Sub-committee on Asia and the Pacific, which has broad jurisdiction for matters affecting US-India relations, said that, on February 13, he inserted a statement into the Congressional Record congratulating Modi on his victory.
“Congressional Record statements are made part of US history and may be accessed by this and future generations,” Faleomavaega said in a press statement.
“Given Modi’s extraordinary leadership, I wanted to recognise his contributions not only to India but also to the world’s economy and so I inserted a statement about him in the Congressional Record as a token of our friendship and in honour of his accomplishments.”
“I intended to personally present this historical document to Modi two weeks ago and so I have not publicly commented about the document until now.”
He said he had to cancel his scheduled appointment with Modi on February 22 due to the strikes in India.
He had earlier met Modi in late 2010.
Biz ties
He said Sanjay Puri, founder and President of the Alliance for US India Business (AUSIB), who is in India this week, had agreed to present the Congressional Record statement to Modi on his (Faleomavaega’s) behalf.
“I appreciate the work Puri is doing in the US Congress to promote Modi’s Vibrant Gujarat initiative which can significantly boost trade between the US and India,” he added.