It is no secret that the BJP has been trying to reach out to the United States as far as Narendra Modi is concerned. Rajnath Singh, the party president, was in the US recently where he virtually named Modi as the party's Prime Ministerial candidate - a statement not welcome among other senior BJP leaders. The US India chamber of business has backed reaching out to the Gujarat Chief Minister. But now, Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett, vice chairperson of the United States Commission on International Religious freedom, has said in no unclear terms that Modi is not welcome in the United States because of his alleged role in the 2002 riots.
