PM Modi speaks against foreign destination weddings, jokes about not getting invitations

PRime government minister Narendra Modi, double land on his calls for nonindulgence in illume of a global impact of the US-Iran war, spoke against Indians holding destination weddings abroad.“The moment holidays begin, children are handed tickets to go abroad,” he said at an event in Gujarat, speaking in Hindi, “The trend nowadays is to travel overseas, often for destination weddings.”“There are many people here who do not send me invitations anymore. They used to send them in the past because they would hold their weddings abroad,” he said with a smile, pointing towards the large number of community leaders present on stage at the inauguration of a hostel built by the Patidar/Patel community. “But now they are stopping that practice,” he added. ‘Expense in foreign currency’“This trend of destination weddings abroad has been growing rapidly; however, consider the fact that this entails a significant expenditure of foreign currency. Ask yourselves: are there no places within India where we can spend our vacations, where we can teach our children about our history, where we can take pride in our own local sites?” he said.The Prime Minister — who is headed to the West Asian war-affected country of UAE, besides the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, and Italy, later this month — has been arguing that forex reserves be protected in light of global uncertainties, especially since India majorly imports key items such as oil and gold.He further asserted, “It is essential that we celebrate our vacations right here in India. Even when it comes to weddings, I do not believe there could be any place more beautiful or sacred for us than our own India.”PM Modi has repeatedly urged affluent Indians to avoid hosting weddings abroad.During an episode of his monthly ‘Mann Ki Baat’ interaction in 2023, he expressed concern over the trend of Indians' weddings being hosted in countries like Dubai, Thailand, and Italy, arguing that celebrating on Indian soil would keep money within the country.A year later, in November 2024, he formalised this appeal by introducing a ‘Wed in India’ initiative, positioning India as a world-class wedding destination.Austerity appeal and criticismIn his speech, Modi overall urged Indians to reduce dependence on imported goods, saying global supply chains have been severely disrupted by the ongoing West Asia conflict. He said India spends lakhs of crores in foreign exchange on imports and called on citizens to avoid “personal activities that involve spending foreign exchange”.The appeal was the latest in a series of austerity calls Modi has made in recent days. He has already urged Indians to avoid buying gold for a year, postpone foreign travel, and switch to work-from-home wherever possible, as crude oil prices surged following the US-Iran war and the closure of the key waterway Strait of Hormuz.The government, meanwhile, sought to reassure citizens that there is no shortage of petroleum products. A ministerial group chaired by defence minister Rajnath Singh said India holds 60 days of crude oil stocks, and that public-sector oil companies are absorbing losses of nearly ₹1,000 crore a day to prevent pump prices from rising amid the global volatility.Modi's austerity appeals, however, have drawn sharp criticism over the stark contrast with his own schedule.Critics pointed out that even as he called for fuel conservation, he conducted roadshows in Somnath and Vadodara on Monday — his third in 12 hours — and had held five roadshows in the five days prior, including in Patna and Kolkata. Opposition leaders called his messaging hypocritical, with Rahul Gandhi terming it “proofs of failure” to manage the economy.