Vadodara, May 11 -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday urged citizens to abandon the growing trend of destination weddings abroad to reduce the expenditure of foreign currency amid economic pressure from the West Asia conflict.

He proposed a unique alternative, suggesting that citizens should look toward the Statue of Unity as a premier location for their nuptials to receive the "blessings" of the first Deputy Prime Minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

"The moment the holidays begin, children are handed tickets to go abroad. The trend nowadays is to travel overseas--often for destination weddings. There are many people here who do not send me invitations anymore; they used to send them in the past because they would hold their weddin...