Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Modi will arrive in PNG on May 21, for an official state visit and a Bilateral meeting with Prime Minister, James Marape, and other Pacific Island leaders for the India Summit.

“This is the third summit that is being held with India and we are co-hosting it with India this year. Now this is a historical event, we have never had the Prime minister of one of the biggest leading economies and population come to PNG before, now this shows us that India now wants to play in the region and also with PNG going forward,” said Tkatchenko.

Kapil Sharma said he was asked to pay a bribe of 500,000 rupees ($7,492; £5,632) to build his Mumbai office, despite paying huge taxes.

He tweeted, "Yeh hain aapke acche din? (Is this your idea of good days?)", referring to Mr Modi's campaign slogan in the run up to his 2014 poll victory.

The Mumbai civic authorities said the office structure was illegal.

But, they told reporters that they had begun an investigation into the corruption allegations.

In tweets, Modi said: “I am very optimistic about FIPIC Summit. Am sure it will strengthen India's bond with the Pacific island nations.”

Later, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj welcomed the 14 leaders who arrived in India for the summit.

In an address to the FIPIC leaders, she said: “You may be far from us geographically but you have always had a special place in our hearts”, according to tweets posted by external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party denies any wrongdoing by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj or the top elected leader of Rajasthan state, Vasundhararaje Scindia. 

The scandal, which relates to the investigation into the founder of India's Twenty20 cricket tournament, is the first to hit Modi's government since it came to power last year.