Amit Shah Is Wrong: Narendra Modi Has Made More Foreign Trips Than Manmohan Singh
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made more foreign trips than Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah said recently in Palampur, Himachal Pradesh.
Shah's statement is wrong on all counts, according to this report by Factly.in, a data journalism portal, based on ministry of external affairs data.
Modi made more foreign trips in his first three years as the Prime Minister than Singh made either during his entire first term as Prime Minister (2004-2009) or his entire second term (2009-14), data show.
Singh made 80 trips spanning 303 days
When Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister between 2004 and 2014, he made 80 foreign trips spanning 303 days. He made at least 10 trips in 2005, 2009, 2011 and 2013. He made at least five foreign trips during every year of his tenure except in 2012 and 2014. He made only one foreign trip before demitting office in 2014.
Singh was abroad for at least 30 days in 2005, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013. On average, each foreign trip lasted around 3.8 days. He made slightly greater number of trips in his second term compared to his first term.
Source: Ministry of External Affairs
Modi made 54 trips spanning 132 days
Modi has made 54 foreign trips lasting 132 days in the first three years of his tenure. He made nine foreign trips in 2014, 27 in 2015 and 18 in 2016. His trips lasted 32 days in 2014, 64 days in 2015 and 18 days in 2016. Each trip, on average, lasted 2.5 days.
Source: Ministry of External Affairs
Comparing first three years of Singh & Modi
Not only did Singh make fewer trips than Modi in the first three years of both his terms, he was abroad for fewer days than Modi in the first three years of both his terms.
In his first three years of term 1, Singh made fewer trips than Modi made in 2015 alone.
The average duration of each trip made by Modi is shorter than that of Singh.
Foreign Visits Of Modi & Singh In The First Three Years Of Their Term
Source: Ministry of External Affairs
(Dubbudu has been working on issues related to the Right to Information for a decade. He is a data/information enthusiast & is passionate about governance/policy issues. Factly.in is dedicated to making public data meaningful.)
