Declined Trump’s Invite To US For Coming To Land Of Lord Jagannath: PM Modi In Odisha

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said he had declined an invitation from US President Donald Trump to visit Washington, and instead chose to come to Odisha, the sacred land of Lord Jagannath.

Addressing a rally in Bhubaneswar, Modi said, "I was in Canada for the G7 Summit when US President Trump had called me and invited me to Washington for a discussion and lunch. I thanked him for the invitation, saying I have to visit Odisha, the land of Lord Jagannath. I humbly rejected his invitation."

Photo Credit: PMO via PTI Photo

Modi had on Tuesday declined Trump's invitation to visit the US while returning from Canada, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said in a statement on the Modi-Trump phone call.

According to Misri’s statement, Modi said he could not accept the invitation due to a pre-existing schedule, and invited Trump to visit India for the Quad Summit, likely later this year.

The two leaders were scheduled to meet in Canada on the sidelines of the G7 Summit. However, the US President left the meeting midway amidst rising hostilities between Israel and Iran.

Modi participated in the first anniversary function of the BJP's maiden government in Odisha during the day and launched development projects worth over Rs 18,600 crore.