Washington, July 23: The United States has not changed its position on a visa for Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, but pressure is being mounted on it from both outside and inside the country, reproted the Hindustan Times. 

BJP president Rajnath Singh, who is currently touring the United States, has said he plans to raise the issue with lawmakers during his meetings on the Capitol Hill.

Depending on whom he meets, Singh is either likely to encounter those already converted to the cause or those who will remain belligerently on the other side.

Republicans, broadly, are in favour. Democrats are not.

Republican House representatives Aaron Schock, Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Cynthia Lummis visited Modi earlier this year and promised to work on his visa.

"They have the blessings of the party leadership," said Shalabh 'Shalli' Kumar, a Chicago businessman who organised the congressional tour to Gujarat.

Kumar is Modi's most influential US backer today.

On their return, the three congressmen have indeed been at it, aggressively questioning the restrictions the state department and at congressional hearings.

The state department denied him a visa for foreign officials in March 2005 - under a Republican administration - and revoked the tourist/business visa issued to him earlier.

A US official had then said a diplomatic visa was denied to him - under 214 (b) of Immigration and Nationality Act - as he was not coming for a "purpose that qualify for a diplomatic visa".

His existing visa was revoked under Section 212 (a)(2)(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which disqualifies foreign officials "responsible for or directly carried out, at any time, particularly severe violations of religious freedom".

The United States was not alone in punishing Modi for what was seen as his failure to stop the 2002 riots that claimed the lives of 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus.

The United Kingdom and other European Union countries joined the boycott, which began unravelling 10 years after, with London making peace with Modi in October 2012.

The US, many thought, would follow. But it hasn't yet. Not officially at least.

Trade and business bodies such as the US-Indian Business Council has been an enthusiastic partner of Modi annual's roll call of fans, Vibrant Gujarat.

But the chief minister has his detractors, chiefly the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USIRF), which has consistently opposed a visa for Modi.

"There is significant evidence linking him to the violence," said its chair Katrina Lantos Swett recently, adding, "and for this reason, a visa would not be appropriate."

Twenty-five House representatives wrote a letter to then secretary of state Hillary Clinton demanding the US should continue to deny Modi a visa. And so it has, to this date.

But US officials worry now about antagonising Modi, considering his meteoric rise through the party hierarchy to become its candidate for the post of prime minister in the 2014 general elections.

There is additional pressure thanks to the prospects of Modi becoming the prime minister at some stage soon, a possibility few pundits discount in India or abroad.

What if he becomes the prime minister?

"We will have to give him a visa then," said an administration official making light of the situation. But he admitted the main challenge before the US was to time it right.