In newspaper ad,embassy denies inviting Modi to Oman

However,the advertisement issued today said the invitation was not extended by the Sultanate of Oman,but by the Dutch Rotterdam company,which has a project in the port city of Sohar. It mentioned that the company has an agreement with Gujarat and invited Modi. “The Government of Sultanate of Oman has no relation to this visit. He is the guest of the above mentioned (company),” it read.

Later today,the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said Modi was not scheduled to visit Oman neither did the Middle East destination figure in his itinerary during his two-day visit to Russia from October 26. “We are quite amused to see this ad in a national daily,” said a senior official in the CMO. The official,however,maintained that during a visit by a nine-member delegation led by Oman Industries and Commerce Minister – Maqbool Ali Sultan — on September 9,Modi was invited by the Omani minister. They said the CM had then accepted the invitation to visit the Sohar Port,where the Dutch port company Rotterdam is functional in a big way.

Incidentally,the South Asia Citizens Web had launched an online campaign to disallow Modi’s visit,as they had done in the past for his visit to the UK and the US.