Nirav Modi wasn’t part of business delegation to Davos: MEA

NEW DELHI: The Ministry of External Affairs has clarified that diamond merchant Nirav Modi was not part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s business delegation to Davos as claimed in certain quarters and he may have been in the Swiss hill station on his own.

An MEA insider said that business delegates never accompany the PM on any foreign tour either on bilateral visit or a multilateral forum like Davos. The PM is accompanied by his official team of delegates of around 10 persons plus security personnel and a small media contingent.

“Nirav Modi was not part of any business delegation with PM to Davos. PM is accompanied by his official delegation on foreign tours. Business delegates are not part of PM’s trip abroad. The PM only figured in a group photo where Nirav Modi was present in Davos and that photo shoot was arranged by business chambers.


Nirav Modi, like many other businessmen, may have been in Davos by registering on his own,” the insider said.

In Davos, there was a request to the PM to take a picture with the Indian business delegates when he was moving from one place to another and he obliged, the MEA official said, adding, the photo shoot lasted for few minutes. Nirav Modi happened to be in one such photo.

The list of Indian business delegates for a bilateral or multilateral meet in India or abroad is made by business chambers and DIPP.

Delegates in the list are also invited based on respective business houses’ interest in a particular country. Each CEO forum with a foreign country is led by a top business honcho from Indian side and his or her counterpart from the other side.