Mann's Modi Visit Claim Backfires; MEA Confirms Invites

Unbothered by the Ministry of External Affairs' condemnation of his insulting remarks regarding PM Modi's recent 5-nation visit, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann continues to poke fun at PM Modi's foreign trips.

The comedian-turned-politician brought up PM Modi's 2015 stopover in Pakistan to meet the then Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif, and said that he goes to countries uninvited. "It seems that when the PM is flying in his plane, he looks down and asks, 'Which country is that?' When told it's so-and-so, he says, 'No worries, we will reach an hour late where we are going; let's land here now.' He decides to land just anywhere. That's how he landed in Pakistan too," Mann said in the Punjab state assembly on Friday (11th July). "The PM goes to countries at times without even an invitation. He landed in Pakistan to eat Biryani. We can't go to Pakistan, but the PM can go," he added.

Justifying his distasteful comments, the Punjab CM asked if he did not have the right to question the government's foreign policy.

Mann's claim that PM Modi reached countries uninvited is completely false and baseless. One of the visits during the recent 5-nation tour was to Brazil to attend the BRICS summit. As a founding member of the bloc, it is customary for the PM to attend the summit every year. He went to Ghana, the first stop in the 5-nation visit, on the invitation of President John Dramani Mahama.Mann's Modi Visit Claim Backfires; MEA Confirms Invites

No head of government or country visits another country 'uninvited'. Such state visits are preceded by extensive preparations, and multiple rounds of meetings of officials. Before PM visits a country, officials, sometimes even foreign ministers, visit those countries for preparatory work. The groundwork for agreements and MoUs signed during the state visits are prepared in such preliminary meetings.