New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made 84 foreign trips since 2014 and these cost the government exchequer over Rs 2,000 crore.
Answering a question in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh gave details of the PM’s trips between 15 June 2014 and 3 December 2018
He said maintenance of Air India One and other jets alone cost Rs 1583.18 crore. Another Rs 429.28 crore has been spent on chartered flights and Rs 9.12 crore on establishing secure hotlines, he added.
Since taking office, Modi has visited world leaders such as American President Donald Trump, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. Cited as diplomatic tours to strengthen ties, some of these have been controversial.
PM Modi had gifted 200 cows to Rwanda and an agreement for “exploration and uses of outer space for peaceful purposes” was signed with Portugal, Vietnam and Oman as well.
MP Binoy Viswam had sought details of PM’s foreign trips including, the names of countries he had visited since coming to power in 2014, the ministers who had accompanied him, agreements signed, and the amount paid to Air India for his travel.
