Gifts on foreign tours: Modi frugal compared to Manmohan

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has received 65 gifts worth Rs 3.11 lakh during his foreign visits in the past ten months since assuming charge last year, an RTI query revealed.

On February 19, Modi received gold and diamond studded cufflinks worth Rs 75,000. He was also twice given tea sets and books as gifts. He was presented with a Lord Buddha statue, said Foreign Ministry in response to an RTI query.

The gift items received by the prime minister also included porcelain dishes, replica of temples, paintings, carpets, photographs, ornaments among others.

The government also said that former PM Manmohan Singh had from 2010 to June 2013 received gifts worth Rs 83.72 lakh during foreign tours.

In 2010, he was presented with a sword worth Rs 20.91 lakh, besides ornaments valued at Rs 48.93 lakh. Table-clock, pen, prayer mat, a statue of Lord Pashupatinath, a box made of gold are among other gifts Singh received during the UPA tenure.

The Foreign Ministry provided information on the gifts received on foreign tours by the President, vice-president, MPs and government officials during the period between year 2010 to June 2013 while details for period between July 2013 to March 2015 have been mentioned on the ministry's website, it said.