Agencies/New York

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not have to face a US lawsuit claiming he failed to stop anti-Muslim rioting in 2002, a federal judge in New York ruled on Wednesday.
US District Judge Analisa Torres upheld the US Department of State’s determination that Modi, as a sitting head of government, is entitled to immunity from civil lawsuits filed in US courts.
The lawsuit, filed in September by an obscure human rights group on the eve of Modi’s maiden visit to the US as prime minister, made international headlines at the time, though officials from both countries brushed it off as a distraction.
Joseph Whittington, the president of the human rights group American Justice Center and a city council member in Harvey, Illinois, acknowledged in September that the case had little chance of succeeding but said there was victory in “symbolism.”
Babak Pourtavoosi, a lawyer who represented the centre, and Whittington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The lawsuit was a frivolous attempt to discredit Modi during his visit to the US, said G V L Narasimha Rao, a spokesman for Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“It deserved to be treated with contempt,” he added.
The judge’s decision comes ahead of a planned visit by President Barack Obama to attend India’s January 26 Republic Day celebrations at Modi’s invitation.
The lawsuit claimed Modi did nothing to halt riots in his home state of Gujarat in which more than 1,000 people died in reprisals after a train carrying Hindu pilgrims was set on fire.
The 28-page complaint claimed that Modi committed crimes against humanity, extra-judicial killings, torture and the infliction of mental and physical trauma on victims, mostly Muslims.
Modi denies any wrongdoing and the Indian courts have cleared him of all charges.
But the failure of his administration to control the violence and his refusal to apologise left a legacy of distrust and suspicion.
As a result of the allegations, Modi was denied a US visa in 2005, but Obama was quick to invite him to the US after Modi’s election as prime minister.
The September visit was intended to revitalise the two countries’ relationship, which was severely strained in 2013 when US authorities in New York arrested an Indian diplomat, Devyani Khobragade, for allegedly underpaying a domestic worker and subjected her to a strip search.
The State Department later granted her immunity and essentially had her expelled in a series of diplomatic manoeuvres.
Whittington said last year that some of his constituents in Illinois were refugees from the Gujarat violence, prompting him to take action against Modi.
The State Department did not immediately comment on the ruling and an official of India’s foreign ministry declined to comment.  
The US and European powers boycotted Modi for more than a decade after the riots, but have largely embraced him after his party won a landslide election victory.
US Secretary of State John Kerry held talks with Modi on the sidelines of a major trade summit in Gujarat on Sunday, hailing him as a “visionary” poised to transform the Indian economy.
Kerry was criticised at home and in Europe for choosing to remain in India rather than attend a march in Paris with other international leaders condemning attacks in France that killed 17 people.