Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said that Narendra Modi should not be blamed for the Gujarat riots in 2002. In an exclusive interview to a TV channel, Abbott opined that Modi who was then chief minister of Gujarat was just a "presiding officer" who has been cleared in "endless inquiries".

“There has been endless inquiries into this and Mr Modi has always been cleared. That certainly is good enough for me. I don't believe the presiding officer should be blamed just because something terrible happens... over which he is presiding,” said Abbott. The Australian PM is confident that Modi has the ability to revive the Indian economy which is struggling and said Modi government has freshness in the governance and hopefully it will bring the positive results.

Abbott also invited Modi to Australian and the latter has formally accepted the proposal. According to the government sources, Modi will tour Australia in November after G20 summit.

(AW: Vamshi)