Britain said Thursday it would end a 10-year boycott of the leader of India's western Gujarat state imposed over deadly religious riots there in 2002 that left three Britons dead. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, a right-wing Hindu nationalist, came to power shortly before the riots triggered by the deaths of nearly 60 Hindu pilgrims in a train fire that was initially blamed on a mob of Muslims.
He did too little to prevent the blood-letting, which left more than 2,000 mainly Muslims dead in an orgy of violence and arson, according to rights groups. The government figures put the death toll at about 1,000. Britain's junior foreign minister Hugo Swire has asked the ambassador to India to visit Gujarat and meet Modi to discuss a "wide range of issues of mutual interests," the British foreign office said in a statement.
"We want to secure justice for the families of the British nationals who were killed in 2002 (riots), we want to support human rights and good governance in the state," the statement quoted Swire as saying. Three British nationals - Saeed Dawood, Mohammed Aswat Nallabhai and Shakil Dawood - were burnt to death in Sabarkantha district of Gujarat, a state that is governed by India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Previously, British officials were forbidden from dealing directly with Modi, but there were contacts with senior bureaucrats in Gujarat, where British companies have invested, an embassy source in New Delhi said. Britain's effort to resume links with Modi's regime came less than two months after a Gujarat court sentenced a former member of his government to 28 years in jail for her role in instigating the 2002 riots.
The August 31 sentencing of Maya Kodnani, who served as minister from 2007-2009, was seen as a setback for Modi who is thought to have prime ministerial ambitions. Despite the scars of the sectarian violence, Gujarat in recent years has lured foreign firms to its soil with reliable power supply, good infrastructure by Indian standards, and the availability of educated but cheap labour. Despite big investments by European and US corporations in Gujarat, Modi has been shunned by Western governments since the religious violence. An official at the British High Commission in New Delhi said the policy shift reflected Gujarat's dynamic economic and business climate and came after high-profile convictions of some politicians in the state over the riots.
"If you can't engage at a senior political level, it is harder to spot opportunities," the official said, also acknowledging that Modi's rising political fortunes were a factor in the decision. No date has been set for the visit, which needs approval by India's foreign ministry. "We hope soon," the official said.
Modi has enjoyed a steady rehabilitation since the Supreme Court last year demoted to a lower court a case over his role in the riots. Opinion polls consistently rank him as India's most popular politician and the favourite to replace Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after the next elections, which are due by 2014.
He is feted by Indian and foreign companies alike for slashing India's notorious red tape and building the infrastructure they need to do business, although many analysts say he would struggle to garner support from enough of India's religiously diverse electorate to take to the national stage. "Gujarat has already won a huge amount of confidence, not only nationally, but globally too," Modi told Reuters on Thursday before news of the British decision emerged.