Obama invites Modi to visit US; vows to work closely with him

Washington, May 17 (IANS) Ending a decade long boycott of Narendra Modi, President Barack Obama Friday congratulated him on BJP’s “success in India’s historic election” and invited him to visit Washington “to further strengthen our bilateral relationship”.

“The president called prime ministerial candidate and Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi today to congratulate him on the Bharatiya Janata Party’s success in India’s historic election,” said a White House readout of the call.

“The president noted he looks forward to working closely with Mr. Modi to fulfil the extraordinary promise of the US-India strategic partnership, and they agreed to continue expanding and deepening the wide-ranging cooperation between our two democracies.”

“The President invited Narendra Modi to visit Washington at a mutually agreeable time to further strengthen our bilateral relationship,” the readout said.