For Issuing of Diwali Stamp in US, PM Modi to Write to President Obama

New York: In a boost to efforts being made for issuing of a postage stamp on Diwali by the US Postal Service, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has agreed to a request to write to President Barack Obama on the issue, said members of a group who have been pushing the case.

The request in this regard was made by an Indian-American couple from New York, Ranju and Ravi Batra, who met PM Modi at the UN General Assembly yesterday, when the Prime Minister went there to address the Post 2015 Sustainable Development Agenda Summit.

Ms Batra, as chair of Diwali Stamp Project, updated PM Modi on her efforts for the Diwali Stamp for many years, along with Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, a media release said.

During the brief encounter, Ms Batra urged PM Modi to write a letter to President Obama in support of the Diwali Stamp being issued by US Postal Service.

"The Prime Minister agreed to do so and said, 'I will write (to) President Obama (for) supporting the Diwali Stamp' and took the note as a reminder," a media release said.

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The US Postal Service has issued stamps on all major religions of the world excluding Hinduism. President Obama is the first US President to personally celebrate the festival of Diwali in the White House.

For more than a decade now several efforts have been made towards issuing of a postal stamp on Diwali by the US Postal Service.

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Dozens of US lawmakers have written in this regard to the US Postal Service, which has also received thousands of signed letters from Indian-Americans.

Congressional resolutions have also been passed in this regard, but the efforts have not been successful so far.