Thursday, Apr 25, 2024 | Last Update : 04:20 AM IST
From May to July, Modi set to visit 7 nations
PM Modi will visit Germany towards the end of May for inter-Government consultations with the German leadership.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit several countries within the next three months on official visits that include Sri Lanka, Germany, Russia, Israel, Kazakhstan and possibly the United States and Spain too.
PM Modi is expected to visit Sri Lanka in the second week of May and, among other engagements, participate in the celebrations marking the UN “Vesak Day”, one of the most important events in the Buddhist calendar. “The Indian Prime Minister has confirmed his visit,” Sri Lanka’s minister of justice Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe was quoted by news agencies as saying in Colombo on Wednesday.
According to reports, the “International Day of Vesak” celebrations, will held in Colombo from May 12 to 14, and will include an International Buddhist Conference in which over 400 delegates from more than 100 countries will participate.
PM Modi will visit Germany towards the end of May for inter-Government consultations with the German leadership. He will also visit St. Petersburg in Russia from June 1 to 3.
The ministry of external affairs (MEA) had earlier said, “India has been invited as a Guest Country at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum which will be held in the city of St. Petersburg, Russia from June 1 to 3, 2017. As a part of this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the Forum as Guest of Honour.”
Other details of the Prime Minister’s visit are being worked out, and we will announce them as and when they are finalised.” At about this time, the PM may also visit Spain.
The PM is also expected to visit Kazakhstan to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meet to be held in Astana on June 7-8. Interestingly, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is also expected to attend the Summit of the SCO—-a grouping that also includes Russia, China, Kazakshstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan——and, according to recent Pakistani media reports, there is a possibility that the two leaders may meet informally despite the current Indo-Pak tension over the Kulbhushan Jadhav episode.
In June or July, the PM is expected to make his long-awaited, much-anticipated and keenly-awaited visit to Israel with which India has flourishing defence ties. He may also visit the United States either at this time or later in the year that will see his first meeting with US President Donald Trump. According to reports, PM Modi may again visit Germany, this time to attend the G-20 Summit scheduled to take place on July 7-8 in Hamburg.
