NEW DELHI: US Ambassador Nancy Powell met controversial Indian politician Narendra Modi on Thursday, ending a nine-year long aloofness between Washington and the Gujarat chief minister.

The meeting in the Gujarat state capital of Gandhinagar sparked rumours of rapprochement between the two sides over the mass murder of Muslims and Christians under Mr Modi's watch.

Press Trust of India said from Washington that the United States sought to play down the meeting, saying it is part of increased engagement with Indian leaders and indicated that President Barack Obama may not have been involved in the decision to end the BJP leader's boycott.

A press note from the US embassy said human rights was one of the subjects discussed between the envoy and the state chief.

The state department also scotched speculation about the meeting leading to the US lifting a nine-year-long visa ban on Modi in the wake of the 2002 Gujarat pogroms, insisting that there was no change in its visa policy, PTI said.

Washington also made it clear that it was not taking any position on the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Justifying Ms Powell's meeting with Mr Modi, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said all relevant people required to take a decision were involved in the process. However, the official did not confirm if President Obama or Secretary of State John Kerry were involved in it.

“These decisions don't always rise up to every highest level. But certainly, all relevant individuals who needed to weigh in weighed in, and agreed that it was certainly an appropriate meeting to have,” Ms Psaki told reporters.

“We are often engaged in concentrated outreach to senior political and business leaders. We began doing that months ago, if not years ago — in different scales, of course — to highlight and continue our US-India relationship. There has been no change in our policy per se. This is an effort in that engagement,” Psaki said

“We do broad outreach with a range of officials in India and many countries around the world with different backgrounds. And it's simply just an example of that,” she said.

Reiterating that the US does not take positions in elections of any country, Ms Psaki argued that Ms Powell meeting Mr Modi is not an example of the US taking a position.

“We don’t take positions. So no, it wouldn't be a reflection of that. It is just a reflection, as I've stated a few times, of us reaching out to a range of individuals from different backgrounds, different political affiliations, which we do in countries around the world,” she said.

Ms Psaki said there is no change in the US visa policy. “When individuals apply for a visa, their applications are reviewed in accordance with US law and policy. This is not a reflection of any change ... This is simply a meeting happening on the ground in India. It's not a reflection of anything else than outreach to a broad range of officials,” she said.