PM Modi to embark on 5-nation trip to UAE and 4 European countries this week | India News
Prime Minister Modi’s first destination will be the United Arab Emirates, where he will meet President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to exchange views on the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership and the West Asian conflict.“The two leaders will have an opportunity to exchange views on bilateral issues, particularly energy cooperation as well as regional and international issues of mutual interest,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Monday.It said the visit will promote significant trade and investment links between the two countries.The UAE is India’s third largest trading partner and seventh largest source of investment cumulatively over the past 25 years.With the UAE hosting an over 4.5 million strong Indian community, the visit will also be an opportunity to discuss their welfare, the MEA said.In the second leg of his visit, Modi will visit the Netherlands from May 15 to 17. This will be his second visit to the Netherlands after his visit in 2017.The Prime Minister will meet King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima and hold talks with Prime Minister Rob Zetten.According to the MEA, Prime Minister Modi’s visit will create momentum for high-level engagement and closer cooperation in various areas, including a strategic partnership on defence, security, innovation, green hydrogen, semiconductors and water.It said his visit will provide an opportunity to deepen and expand the multilateral partnership.The Netherlands is one of India’s largest trade destinations in Europe, with bilateral trade at $27.8 billion in 2024-25. The European country is India’s fourth largest investor with foreign direct investment of $55.6 billion.The Prime Minister from the Netherlands will visit Sweden on a two-day visit from May 17 to 18 at the invitation of his Swedish counterpart Wolf Kristerson.Modi had earlier visited Sweden for the first India-Nordic Summit in 2018.The Prime Minister is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Christerson to review the entire spectrum of bilateral relations and explore new avenues of cooperation to increase bilateral trade, which will reach $7.75 billion in 2025.In their discussions, both sides will focus on strengthening bilateral ties in the areas of green transition, AI, emerging technologies, startups, resilient supply chains, defence, space, climate action and people-to-people ties.“The two Prime Ministers will address the European Round Table for Industry, a leading pan-European business leaders’ forum, along with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen,” the MEA said in a statement.In the fourth leg of his visit, Modi will be in Norway from May 18 to 19 to attend the third Indo-Nordic summit as well as hold bilateral talks with the country’s leadership.This will be PM Modi’s first visit to Norway. This will mark the first visit of an Indian Prime Minister to Norway in 43 years.Prime Minister Modi will meet King Harald V and Queen Sonja and hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Storr.Modi will also address the India-Norway Business and Research Summit along with the Norwegian Prime Minister, according to the MEA.“The visit will provide an opportunity to review the progress of India-Norway relations and explore ways to strengthen them by focusing on trade and investment capitalizing on the India-EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement as well as Clean and Green Tech and Blue Economy,” it said.The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.“The visit will also be an opportunity to boost bilateral trade worth about $2.73 billion (2024) and investment of about $28 billion by Norway’s Government Pension Fund (GPFG) in India’s capital markets,” the MEA said.The third Indo-Nordic summit will be held in Oslo on May 19 and will be attended by Modi and his counterparts from Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Sweden.The MEA said the summit will build on the previous two summits held in Stockholm in April 2018 and Copenhagen in May 2022 and provide a more strategic dimension to India’s ties with the Nordic countries.The summit is expected to focus on enhancing bilateral ties in the areas of technology and innovation, green transition and renewable energy, sustainability, blue economy, defence, space and the Arctic.In the final leg of his visit, PM Modi will pay an official visit to Italy from May 19 to 20 at the invitation of his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni.PM Modi last visited Italy in June 2024 for the G7 summit. During the visit, he will meet President Sergio Mattarella and hold talks with Prime Minister Meloni.The visit took place against the backdrop of a strong momentum in bilateral relations with both sides actively implementing the Joint Strategic Action Plan 2025-2029, a comprehensive road map for cooperation in various fields, the MEA said.India-Italy bilateral trade to reach $16.77 billion in 2025.The focus of Modi’s T-Rep in Italy will be to strengthen ties in the areas of investment, defense and security, clean energy, innovation and science and technology.The Prime Minister’s upcoming visit will deepen India’s partnership with Europe across sectors, particularly trade and investment relations in light of the recently concluded India-EU Free Trade Agreement, the MEA said.
