Narendra Modi is the 6th Indian PM to address US Congress. From Jawaharlal Nehru to Manmohan Singh, numerous Indian PM’s have done so in the past, some to roaring applause & cheers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday addressed the joint session of the US Congress. During his approximately one-hour-long speech, in which he referred to the partnership between India and the US as the “defining partnership of this century”, PM Modi received 53 rounds of applause and a record 15 standing ovations.
Speaking of Indo-US partnerships in technology and defence, PM’s speech emphasised on the growing relationship between the two countries, while also hinting at China’s threat in the Indo-Pacific.
PM Modi now figures on a small list of leaders to have addressed the US Congress more than once. Others include renowned figures like Winston Churchill and Nelson Mandela. He is also the sixth Indian prime minister to be given this platform.
He first addressed the US Congress in 2016 under the Barack Obama administration. Roughly 48 minutes, his speech then had received nine standing ovations and 33 rounds of applause, show media reports. Back then, he had highlighted how the two countries had overcome “hesitations of history” and a strong relationship between the two could “anchor peace”.
Before Modi, former PM Manmohan Singh, too, had received applause and cheers from US senators and congressmen 32 times during a 40-minute speech given in 2005, roughly a day after the two countries had signed the ‘India–United States Civil Nuclear Agreement’. On the agreement, which had ended a 34-year ban on nuclear trade with India, PM Singh had reportedly said: “Today, our relationship has overcome the hesitations of history. Comfort, candour and convergence define our conversations…. And, in this exciting journey, the US Congress has acted as its compass. You helped us turn barriers into bridges of partnership.”