PM Modi sets date with Obama, US Congress on June 8
FollowPrime Minister Narendra Modi has been invited to address a joint meeting of the US Congress on June 8 during his visit here.
"The friendship between the US and India is a pillar of stability in an important region of the world,” Speaker of the US House of Representative Paul Ryan said yesterday.
"This address presents a special opportunity to hear from the elected leader of the world's most populous democracy on how our two nations can work together to promote our shared values and to increase prosperity. We look forward to welcoming PM Modi to the US Capitol on June 8," Ryan said.
Modi, who was invited by President Barack Obama for a bilateral visit when he was here for the nuclear summit, will be the fifth prime minister of India to address a joint meeting of Congress, and the first since 2005.
Earlier, Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, P V Narasimha Rao and Rajiv Gandhi had addressed the joint session of the US Congress.
The tradition of foreign leaders and dignitaries addressing Congress began with the Marquis de Lafayette of France, who spoke in the House chamber on December 10, 1824.
Ronak D Desai, a Fellow at New America and an Affiliate at the Belfer Center's India and South Asia Program at Harvard University, said, "an invitation to PM Modi to address a Joint Meeting of Congress is significant, given past US policy towards Modi during his time as Chief Minister of Gujarat."
Modi's visit is likely to be the last official meeting between the two leaders during President Obama's final year in office.
