Ambassadors downgrade Modi luncheon

NEW DELHI: Narendra Modi''s PR efforts on the diplomatic circuit do not seem to have had the desired effect. Though a large number of ambassadors were invited to an interactive meeting on Tuesday between the Gujarat chief minister and industrialists, most stayed away while some sent trade representatives from their missions.
Modi took no chances at the closed-door meeting organised by his government and FICCI.Apprehensive of a repeat of the recent CII meet where acerbic remarks on his government''s role in the post-Godhra communal violence embarrassed him, the Gujarat chief minister this time apparently issued special instructions to keep the press at bay.
In fact, so particular was he about managing the access to information that it was the Gujarat Information Centre rather than FICCI which issued the press release for the occasion.
A diplomat from a mission which chose to stay away pointed out that no ambassador from any European country had visited Gujarat for at least a year, putting that as a reason for not attending the meet.
Another clearly stated that his mission did not want to be ``seen with them'''' while a third said, ``Our ambassador had another engagement but I don''t think he would have gone if he didn''t''''.
The Gujarat government, however, claimed that ``diplomatic heads'''' from 22 countries had attended the meeting.
Countries which sent representatives include Netherlands, Austria, Israel, Germany, Malaysia, Vietnam, Korea, Japan, Indonesia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, New Zealand and Thailand. A sample check with some of them, however, revealed that they had only sent trade representatives rather than ambassadors or high commissioners.
At the luncheon, Modi invoked the Mahatma to invite foreign investment.
Amongst the cultural and historical experiences that visitors could partake of, Modi said, was ``of course a visit to Sabarmati Ashram, the home of our father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi, who is an icon of peace and tolerance for the whole world.''''
Reeling off a host of business figures, Modi said there were two Gujarati spirits, the spirit of fun and the spirit of business.
The state offerred a perfect blend of entertainment and enterprise Modi said, adding that Gujarat had remained an attractive investor location.