Obama will urge Modi to join fight on IS, Ebola

Mangalore Today News Network

New York, Sep 27, 2014: In his summit discussions with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the coming days U.S. President Barack Obama is likely push strongly towards having India play an active role on the global stage, including in the fight against the Islamic State and the scramble to contain Ebola.

The White House will also seek to address some of what it sees as the thorny issues in India’s economic policies, officials here said.

In a media briefing with senior administration officials on Friday the U.S. was also quick to clarify that the summons issued against Mr. Modi on Thursday evening in the Federal District Court of New York could not be delivered to him while he was in the U.S. and he was immune from prosecution at this time. The allegations in the case pertain to the role that the plaintiffs perceived Mr. Modi to have played in presiding over the anti-Muslim pogrom that occurred in Gujarat in 2002,

The officials explained, “As a general legal principle sitting heads of government enjoy immunity from suits in American courts. Sitting heads of government also enjoy personal inviolability while in the U.S., which means they cannot be personally handed or delivered papers.”

Previewing some of the likely subjects of discussion between the two leaders the officials recognised that their summit would occur at a “remarkable time in international affairs,” including the fight against IS in West Asia and the challenge of tackling Ebola in West Africa.

The officials also reiterated the summit meeting’s intention to address a broad spectrum of policy issues including security cooperation, defence, trade, and India’s positive role in numerous trilateral contexts .

 

Courtesy: Thehindu