'Declined Trump's invite to US to coming to land of Lord Jagannath,' says PM Modi; flags off Boudh rail link ahead of Rath Yatra

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that he turned down the invitation of US President Donald Trump to visit the United States because he wanted to “come to the land of Jagannath Mahaprabhu".

While addressing a rally in Bhubaneswar to commemorating one year of the BJP government in Odisha, PM Modi said that he received a call from Trump while he was in Canada to attend the G7 Summit, asking him to come to Washington for dinner and talks. However, he “politely declined his invitation" and returned to India for his scheduled visit to Odisha on June 20.

“Just two days ago, I was in Canada for the G7 summit and the US President Trump called me. He said, since you have come to Canada, go via Washington, we will have dinner together and talk. He extended the invitation with great insistence. I told the US President, thank you for the invitation. It is very important for me to go to the land of Mahaprabhu and hence I politely declined his invitation and your love and devotion to Mahaprabhu brought me to this land," PM Modi said as quoted by news agency ANI.