Houston, Sep 23 (TIWN): Steny Hoyer spoke about Nehru's vision of India as a secular democracy amid Jawaharlal Nehru has been frequently targeted by members of the BJP and BJP chief and Home Minister Amit Shah has blamed Nehru for PoK formation.

As Houston gave a stirring welcome to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, rolling out the red carpet to a stadium packed with 50,000 members of the Indian community, a senior US lawmaker introduced him to the stage with a speech that included a word of praise for Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.

"India, like America, is proud of its ancient traditions to secure a future according to Gandhi's teaching and Nehru's vision of India as a secular democracy where respect for pluralism and human rights safeguard every individual," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said at the “Howdy Modi” event.

The senior member of the Democratic party also quoted Mahatma Gandhi to define democracy as "something that gives the weak, the same chance as the strong."