Friday, March 18 2005 20:40 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kolkata: The CPI (Communist Party of India) today (March 18, 2005) said the US decision to revoke the visa of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to visit that country was a 'discourtesy' on the part of the American Government.

"It is definitely a discourtesy. Normally, a leader of the country, even of a State Government should not be denied a visa," CPI MP Gurudas Dasgupta told sources in Kolkata reacting to denial of visa to Modi.

He, however added, "It is for the American Government to explain why it has denied a visa to the Gujarat Chief Minister."

Modi, who was to pay a 5-day visit to the US on an invitation, has been denied a diplomatic visa and his tourist/business visa, already granted, has also been revoked under a section of US Immigration and Nationality Act.