New Delhi: In a sudden development, US Ambassador to India Nancy Powell today resigned in the midst of general elections in India in which Narendra Modi is perceived to be a front runner for the post of Prime Minister.
The announcement of her resignation to her colleagues in the US mission here today came a week after media reports here that she may be shipped out by the Obama Administration to "clean the state" with India. Powell has been in India for less than three years.
"US Ambassador to India Nancy J Powell announced in a US Mission Town Hall meeting March 31 that she has submitted her resignation to President Obama and, as planned for some time, will retire to her home in Delaware before the end of May," an announcement in the US Embassy website said tonight.
Embassy sources did not want to hazard a guess on the decision of the 67-year-old career service officer to quit her post and return home at a time when India is in an election process and Washington is also deeply interested in its outcome.
There was media speculation a week ago that Powell would be replaced with a political appointee as an attempt by the Obama administration to "clean the state" with India.
The report had said Powell had dragged her heels on meeting Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and was perceived as being "too close" to the UPA's foreign policy establishment.
However, when Washing decided to warm upto Modi, who is perceived as one of the front runners for the prime minister's post, Powell met Modi on February 13, ending a nine-year-old boycott of the Gujarat leader on the issue of 2002 post-Godhra riots.
The US move marked a u-turn in its earlier stand of having nothing to do with Modi, whose visa it cancelled in 2005 under a domestic law on the issue of "severe violations of religious freedom". Ever since it had refused to review its policy.
Earlier, the EU and Britain had also ended their boycott of Modi and warmed up to him in the run up to the polls.
However, some are perceiving the resignation as a fallout of the chill that ensued between the two nations in the wake of the arrest of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in December last year.
Sources reveal that the US ambassador was under 'intense pressure' post the controversy that saw a plunge in the India-US ties. Post the news of the arrest of the Indian diplomat on visa fraud charges, Indian government curtailed the diplomatic privileges of US diplomat in India and many bilateral meetings were put on hold.
A diplomatic meeting between Powell and Bjp's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi fell victim to the chill following the controversy.
Many in South Block did not appreciate the manner in which the crisis was handled.
'Powell — with her experience in dealing with India for several years as she had served in Kolkata before – could have handled the issue better and prevented damage to bilateral ties,' they opined.
In a related development, a ,Congressional report released on Monday said that the nine-year US visa ban on Narendra Modi will automatically be lifted and he would enjoy diplomatic immunity if he becomes the prime minister.
"Modi is widely considered to be one of the front-runners as prime ministerial candidate of his Bharatiya Janata Party. If Narendra Modi were to become Prime Minister of India, he would automatically be eligible for an A-1 (diplomatic) visa as head of state, regardless of the purpose of his visit," the Congressional Research Service (CRS) said in its communication to US lawmakers.
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