• Friday, March 29, 2024

Diaspora

Asian American hotel owners body praises US house speaker for inviting Modi to address Congress

Modi is set to make his first state visit to the US and will be hosted by US president Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden over a dinner on June 22.

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi (ANI Photo)

By: Shubham Ghosh

The Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA), which represents 20,000 hoteliers of primarily Indian descent, has praised US House speaker Kevin McCarthy and other leaders of the Congress over their invitation to Indian prime minister Narendra Modi address the Congress during his visit to Washington later this month.

Modi is set to make his first state visit to the US and will be hosted by US president Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden over a dinner on June 22. Overall, it will be his eighth visit to the US since becoming the prime minister in 2014.

Rahul Gandhi visits US, Modi to follow next: Why Indian politicians love to woo the diaspora

Last week, McCarthy; minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries; Senate majority leader Charles Schumer and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell formally extended the invitation to the Indian leader.

“We look forward to paving the way for greater collaboration between our countries in the years to come,” they wrote.

AAHOA had urged congressional leaders to invite the leader of the world’s largest democracy to address the House and Senate.

“The hotel industry is a vital part of the US economy and a ladder of opportunity for thousands of first- and second-generation immigrants, particularly from India,” said AAHOA chairman Bharat Patel.

“As the most populous country in the world and the crossroads of the Indo-Pacific region, India is a critical player on the world stage and an important US ally. As members of the Indian diaspora, we look forward to welcoming Prime Minister Modi to the United States and to strengthening the relationship between our countries.”

In a letter to McCarthy last month, Patel and AAHOA president & CEO Laura Lee Blake encouraged the House Speaker to invite Modi to address both houses of Congress. According to congressional records, 128 foreign leaders have addressed the legislative body, including Modi in 2016.

He will also be the first Indian prime minister to address the houses of the US Congress twice. Among other world leaders, former British prime minister Sir Winston Churchill and current Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu (thrice) and former South African president Nelson Mandela and former Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin (twice) have done it more than once.

“Inviting Prime Minister Modi to speak during a joint session of Congress will further strengthen the relationship between our two nations by offering a venue to provide constructive dialogue on ways the United States and India can cooperate on key issues,” they wrote.

In their letter to Speaker McCarthy, Patel and Blake noted that AAHOA is the largest hotel owners association in the US, with member-owned properties representing 60 per cent of America’s hotels, responsible for 1.7 per cent of the nation’s GDP.

Earlier this year, a delegation of AAHOA members joined top Indian dignitaries and leaders for a series of business meetings in an effort to create a mutually beneficial relationship between the US and India.

Related Stories

Loading