US visit: A 'bug' problem may force PM Modi to avoid Chinese-owned Waldorf-Astoria

Will there be movement on United Nations Security Council reforms ? Will countries pass the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism? Will the prime ministers of India and Pakistan meet on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly? [caption id=“attachment_2425010” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Prime Minister Narendra Modi. PTI[/caption] These and many other questions already surround the upcoming 70th edition of the UNGA, but it appears one more has been added to that list: Where will Prime Minister Narendra Modi be staying during his time in New York? It was almost a foregone conclusion that Modi would be a guest at the luxurious — and as of October 2014, owned by Chinese firm Anbang Insurance — Waldorf-Astoria, as The Times of India reported on Tuesday. In fact, the report stated that while President Barack Obama — unwilling to risk being spied on or ‘bugged’ at a Chinese-owned hotel — would be breaking from a decades-old tradition of an American head of state staying at the Waldorf, Modi did not share the same apprehensions. The prime minister was reportedly set to break from tradition himself, since the New York Palace Hotel has been the conventional hotel of choice for the PMO. On Wednesday, however, the picture had changed. Hindustan Times reported that the government may be taking a cue from Obama and exploring other options, including the aforementioned — and as of June this year South Korean-owned — New York Palace Hotel and Taj Hotels’ 41-storey hotel The Pierre. According to the report, top government and Indian Hotels Company sources confirmed that the PMO is checking for room availability at other hotels. For now however, Modi is booked to stay at the Waldorf, which will also be hosting Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin.