(Image source from: Businesstoday.in)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that he turned down an invitation from US President Donald Trump to visit Washington DC, as he needed to return to the "sacred land of Lord Jagannath." He disclosed this during a speech in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. PM Modi had recently attended the G7 Summit in Canada, where he interacted with various world leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron. During the G7 meeting, President Trump reached out to PM Modi via phone to extend an official invitation for a visit to Washington DC for discussions and lunch. PM Modi recounted the moment, stating, "While in Canada for the G7 Summit, President Trump called me to invite me to Washington. I expressed my gratitude for the offer but explained that I needed to go to Odisha, home of Lord Jagannath, and politely declined his invitation." This event marked PM Modi's first participation in the one-year anniversary celebration of the BJP government in Odisha.

Additionally, he inaugurated development initiatives amounting to over Rs 18,600 crore. In a statement, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri noted that PM Modi invited President Trump to attend the upcoming Quad Summit in India, which is expected to take place later this year. Although the two leaders were slated to meet in Canada during the G7 Summit, President Trump departed the event prematurely due to escalating tensions between Israel and Iran.