Pradhan ducks question on Lalit Modi's travel documents row

Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday avoided commenting on the ongoing row over External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj helping former IPL boss Lalit Modi with his travel documents in the UK, saying that he was not aware of the issue.

"I have just landed in Patna, I do not have information on the issue.

Let me know about the issue then I will comment," Pradhan said.

The External Affairs Minister had earlier admitted to helping Lalit Modi with his travel documents, but made it clear that she did so only on humanitarian grounds.

Amid calls for her resignation by the opposition parties, Swaraj tried to clarify her position via a series of tweets.

Swaraj said that she took a humanitarian view of Modi's case since his wife was suffering from cancer.

"Taking a humanitarian view, I conveyed to the British High

Commissioner that "British Government should examine the request of

Lalit Modi as per British rules and regulations. If the British

Government chooses to give travel documents to Lalit Modi that will

not spoil our bilateral relations," she tweeted.