Friday, March 25 2005 16:42 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did not telephone Narendra Modi to ask him not to undertake visit to Britain but it was the Gujarat Chief Minister who informed the former about cancellation of his trip on the advice of Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, the PMO said today (Mar 25, 2005).

"The Prime Minister did not call up Modi. It was the Home Minister (Shivraj Patil) who did so," the Prime Minister's spokesman Sanjaya Baru said.

Modi, after accepting Patil's advice, called up the Prime Minister to inform him about cancellation of his three-day trip which was to begin on Friday.

He said Patil told Modi that since he was going on a private visit, the British Government had made it clear that it could not provide "official" security to him. "Demonstrations are going to take place (against Modi in London) and there could be threat to his (Modi's) life," Baru said, adding that Patil told the Chief Minister to 'think about it and then decide'.

"It was an advice from the Home Minister," he said. A Gujarat Government release on Thursday night said that Modi decided to cancel his visit after the Prime Minister and Patil telephoned him at 22:30 hours (IST) and persuaded him not to leave for London.

Baru denied any information about a terrorist threat to Modi in Britain but said there was a possibility of "some problem" because of demonstrations.

The PMO spokesman said the Prime Minister had spoken to BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) president L K Advani in this regard. "After considering the Home Ministers advice, Modi himself called up the Prime Minister to inform him that he had cancelled his trip," Baru said.

The cancellation of Modi's trip comes close on the heels of the US denying him visa, citing his role in the Gujarat riots.