United States Ambassador to India Nancy Powell has held talks with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi marking an end to a decade-long U.S. boycott of the controversial leader, according to BBC News.
Thursday's meeting is an attempt by the U.S. to end a tense relationship with Modi, whose Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party is widely expected to win the elections in May, BBC News reported.
Powell shook hands with Modi at his residence in Gujarat's capital Gandhinagar before going in for closed-door talks, according to BBC News.
Modi is the main opposition for Bharatiya Janata Party's candidate for prime minister in the forthcoming elections, BBC News reported. He was criticised for doing little to prevent religious riots in Gujarat in 2002 in which more than 1,000 mostly Muslim people died.
Riots erupted after 60 Hindu pilgrims died in a train fire which Muslims were blamed for igniting and Western governments broke off contact with Modi's government shortly after the riots, according to BBC News. The U.S.still refuses to grant him permission to enter the country.
Powell arrived in four official cars but she did not speak to waiting reporters, BBC News reported. The U.S. Embassy said in a statement that the "meeting was part of the US Mission's outreach to senior leaders of India's major political parties in advance of the upcoming national elections."
The statement also said Powell would meet with "representatives from non-governmental organisations and US and Indian businesses" in Gujarat, according to BBC News.
"Her discussions focus on the importance of the US-India relationship, regional security issues, human rights, and American trade and investment in India," the statement read, BBC News reported.
Under Mr Modi's leadership, Gujarat has been turned into one of India's economic powerhouses, but he continues to be seen as a divisive figure and has not expressed remorse or offered an apology for the 2002 violence, according to BBC News.
