Indian FM defends herself amid opposition's call to go

Indian foreign minister Sushma Swaraj yesterday defended her decision to help corruption-hit former cricket boss Lalit Modi gain emergency travel papers in Britain, as the opposition demanded her resignation.

Swaraj said she had backed Modi's request last July for travel documents from the British government on "humanitarian" grounds so that he could accompany his wife who needed surgery for cancer in Portugal.

Indian authorities revoked Modi's Indian passport while he was in the UK in 2010 after he became embroiled in false accounting and other corruption allegations in the multi-million dollar Indian Premier League. Modi has consistently denied all accusations against him.

Swaraj said she told Britain's High Commissioner to India James Bevan along with Indian-origin Labour UK MP Keith Vaz that granting Modi the documents would not harm the nations' bilateral relations.

"I genuinely believe that in a situation such as this, giving emergency travel documents to an Indian citizen cannot and should not spoil relations between the two countries," she said in a series of tweets.

India's opposition Congress Party demanded Swaraj resign on moral grounds.

"It is a serious matter and we think if there is any propriety, PM (Narendra) Modi himself will demand Swaraj's resignation," party spokesman Shakeel Ahmad told reporters.

Aam Admi Party, which rules New Delhi, also demanded her resignation for misusing her authority.

BJP president Amit Shah sought to stamp out a media storm over the controversy, saying the party was standing behind her.

"There is no need to make noise as the party doesn't look at this as a propriety issue but purely as a humanitarian one," Shah said.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh said, "What Sushma ji has done, it is right... I want to clarify that the government stands with her."