Modi may not get to address joint session of US Congress

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is unlikely to address a joint session of the United States Congress when he travels here to meet US President Barack Obama at the White House in late September mainly because of the general elections in November.

More than 80 members of the House of Representatives and several top Senators wrote letter to the Congressional leadership both the Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, and the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, to invite Modi to address a Joint Session of the US Congress.

However, this is unlikely to happen now mainly because of the elections in November and urgency on the part of the lawmakers to go back to their constituencies for campaigning.

As a result, both the House of Representatives and the Senate are likely to be not in session when Modi visits Washington. While there has been no official word on Modi’s visit to the US, it is expected to be in the last week of September.

As of now Congress is expected to be in recess, as Members of the House of Representatives would be busy campaigning for the November general elections.