US denial subjective: PM backs Modi in RS

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the US decision to deny visa to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was ‘‘uncalled for and a subjective judgment on allegations against a Constitutional authority’’.

In his speech in the Rajya Sabha, Singh said the government had conveyed ‘‘its deep regret and concern over denial of visa to a duly elected chief minister of a state’’. ‘‘We do not believe that it’s appropriate to use allegations or anything less than due legal process to make a subjective judgment to question a constitutional authority in India,’’ he said.

The Prime Minister spoke after Leader of Opposition Jaswant Singh had raised the issue in the House. Singh had questioned the right of US to ‘‘judge others on human rights’’ when it did not have an ‘‘exemplary record’’. Wondering why India was chosen for invoking a specific US statute, in Modi’s case, he claimed that he had been advising his ‘‘friends in the US not to meddle in the politics of south Asian countries’’.