Modi's visa woes begun with China

GANDHINAGAR: Even as Narendra Modi flies off to London after being rejected a visa by Uncle Sam, mystery surrounds his visit to China that never took place. The tour, planned in December last year, was cancelled at the last minute. At that time, Modi men proffered some garbled explanations for why this happened.

Instead of the land of dragons, Modi journeyed to the easy-to-enter Singapore and Hong Kong on the scheduled dates. A little later he went to Australia.

The Gujarat chief minister was keen to visit Shanghai and other places to see for himself the ports and special economic zones. He had timed his visit with a Confederation of Indian Industry-organised India Trade Fair. Two consultants - AT Kearney and Ernst & Young - were also set to fix Modi's meetings with business leaders.

When quizzed about the Chinese fiasco on Wednesday, Modi's office preferred not to comment. But a senior official close to the chief minister said, "Let me put it this way, getting a visa for Beijing proved to be quite a complicated affair." Another official said: "There were some protocol problems, so Modi cancelled his trip."

Threat to Modi's life in UK, trip called off

NEW DELHI/AHMEDABAD: Following a call from PM Manmohan Singh on Thursday night, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi cancelled his proposed UK trip.

Modi, who has been in the eye of a storm following denial of visa to him by the US, was scheduled to attend the 'Gujarat Day' function at London's Royal Albert Hall on March 26. He was to fly to London on Friday afternoon from Mumbai.

Official sources in New Delhi said the PM called Modi at 10 pm and advised him to cancel the trip in view of intelligence reports from Central agencies that there was a specific threat to his life from the Dawood Ibrahim gang and jehadi groups, including Al-Qaida affiliates. Several radical Islamic groups are known to have a strong presence in the UK. When Modi showed reluctance to cancel the trip, the PM, according to the sources, told him that if he went ahead, not only his own life would be in danger but also the consequences for the nation could be grave. Modi finally relented.

In a short span of half an hour, the CM received calls from three Union government functionaries, advising him to cancel the visit. The first to call him was home secretary Dhirendra Singh. When he showed reluctance to heed the home secretary's advice, home minister Shivraj Patil called him. But in vain.

Meanwhile, Modi held consultations with top leaders of his party, who reportedly told him that in a federal polity, the Centre's advice cannot be ignored.

The final decision to cancel Narendra Modi's visit to UK was taken after a call from the PM. Modi is reported to have told him: "If you are advising me not to go, I'll not go."

Modi invites Bush to Gujarat

GANDHINAGAR: Days after he was refused a visa to visit the US, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi invited President George Bush to visit his state.

Addressing a convention of the Asian-American Hotel Owners' Association (AAHOA) in the US through video-conferencing, Modi asked Bush to come and see the culture of Gujarat.

The US had last week denied a visa to Modi, citing his role in Gujarat' sectarian violence in 2002.

Modi was then set for a six-day visit to the US to address a public meeting in New Jersey and to attend the AAHOA's convention in Florida.

Modi addressed the New Jersey public meet over a webcast Monday morning.