NEW DELHI: Narendra Modi has been attacked for his foreign travels with opponents branding him as "absentee PM", but government sources insist that the criticism is misplaced, saying the PM was away for just a few days more than his predecessor Manmohan Singh in the inaugural year of UPA's second term and has brought in far greater "diplomatic dividends".

Sources emphasized that Modi took 57 days to cover 18 countries in his first year in office, whereas Manmohan Singh travelled to 14 countries over 42 days in the first year of UPA-II, that is after having already served a full five year-term.

They say that the travels of two PMs were significantly different in terms of visibility and impact, both at home and abroad. Unlike Singh's foreign trips which largely went unnoticed at home and in the countries he visited, Modi has made an impact wherever he has gone, they said.

Officials say the PM's trips have been business-like and outcome-oriented. His trips are marked by a tight schedule, back-to-back meetings and overnight travel, with the PM packing in as many bilaterals as possible besides meeting CEOs and addressing the Indian diaspora with the historic Madison Square Garden speech seen as a trail-blazer.

Be it the Queensland University of Technology in Australia to learn research and innovation, combined Yoga-Taichi event in China, visit to a railway station in Germany or taking time out for war-ravaged Jaffna, official sources credit Modi with maximizing the returns on his trips.

When Manmohan visited China in 2008 for 4 days, he visited only 1 city and had 10 engagements. Modi's visit lasted three days during which he visited 3 cities and had 25 engagements. "Similarly when Singh visited US in 2009, he visited only 1 city and held 15 engagements. During his trip to US in 2014, (excluding the UN segment), Modi visited 2 cities and had 33 engagements, including the historic MSG address," said an official who didn't wish to be identified.

It is also pointed out that he also slashed the staff travelling with him abroad to half and the number of mediapersons to barely 10 or so, thus saving money for the exchequer.

Modi has been able to bond closely with world leaders and the chemistry "goes beyond diplomatic niceties", said another official pointing out that the PM's selfie with his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang was seen by over 30 million netizens.

"Modi believes in direct public engagement wherever he goes. His public outreach began days before his visit to China through Weibo (Chinese version of twitter) and still continues," said the official.

Sources pointed out that despite his punishing schedule, Modi's trips have been devoid of embarrassing moments which marked some of the foreign travels of his predecessors. There were many red faces in Singh's delegation when an Indian channel telecast visuals of senior officials having a night-out in Tokyo with a provocative Bollywood dance performance thrown in. In Rajiv Gandhi's tenure, an unfortunate scheduling mix-up resulted in considerable embarrassment, sources claimed.