Sushma flags off yatra, offers 'no comments' on Lalit Modi

New Delhi, June 16: The first batch of pilgrims for the annual Kailash Mansarovar Yatra through the new Nathu La route was flagged off on Tuesday by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who declined comment on the Lalit Modi controversy. Attired in a pink sari, Sushma Swaraj flagged off the event at the Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan here at 10.30 a.m. She made a brief speech and posed for photographs with the yatris. Only photographers were allowed in, not the accompanying journalists. Later, asked about the ongoing controversy over former Indian Premier League chief Lalit Modi, the union minister quipped, "no comments". Meanwhile, the Congress continued to press its demand for the sacking of Sushma Swaraj over the Lalit Modi episode and alleged the Narendra Modi government was out to save the former IPL chief who has been charged with financial impropriety. Sushma Swaraj has maintained she helped Lalit Modi, who has been living in London since 2010, with travel documents to go to Portugal for the treatment of his cancer-afflicted wife on "humanitarian grounds".