Bollywood's leading lady Aishwarya Rai was not seen at the luncheon hosted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in honour of visiting US President George W Bush in Delhi at Taj Palace.

Ash's secretary Hari Singh told a news agency that she had already left for Brazil when a request that she attend the event came from the Ministry of External Affairs.

"We received a phone call from the protocol officer in MEA seeking her presence at the lunch, 40 minutes after she left for Brazil on Tuesday," Singh said in Mumbai on Wednesday.

"We have informed the Ministry via e-mail that she would not be able to attend the event, Singh said.

The other celebrities who joined Bush over the lunch were industrialists like Mukesh Ambani, Sunil Mittal and Ratan Tata.