If anyone could get an award for making the biggest faux pas at an event to promote manufacturing in India, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven would probably be the top contender.

Speaking at the inauguration of the Make in India event, Lofven remarked that this is a time everyone is looking at China. Quickly realising his folly and sheepishly covering it up, he said that what he meant was everyone was looking at China earlier, but now it is India. The audience was in splits.

Usually, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s events across the world are well-attended. But the inaugural event at the National Sports Club of India here had plenty of empty seats.

The upper stand had multiple rows of empty seats. The ‘Modi…Modi’ chants, usually heard in every event the PM addresses, were also not to be found.

While there was a lot of hardsell and hype over India’s prowess as the world’s best investment destination, the poor mobile network coverage at the venue seemed to suggest a different story.

Attendees initially thought the security may have installed jammers but then mobile signals were showing up on the phone screen on and off, erratically.

Scribes used to tweeting and Whatsapping story updates had to resort to good old SMS. Pretty ironic at an event showcasing India’s future.

Twixt the cup and the lip The Chief Ministers’ dinner at the Mahalaxmi Race Course was well attended to begin with. However, after a round of starters, guests were made to wait for almost an hour before the buffet was opened up. A waiter whispered that there were strict instructions to let guests eat only after Modi had said a few words. And well, Modi did not speak.

Meanwhile, someone handling the announcements kept saying: “Hope you are enjoying the dinner so far”. By the time the buffet was opened, many guests, especially the foreigners, had left.

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