Modi embarks on 5-nation tour

The highlight of his foreign visit will be the address to the joint meeting of the US Congress on June 8, a first for a foreign leader this year. Modi will also seek to drum up support for pushing India’s recent application for securing the membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

Modi’s first stop will be Herat in Afghanistan where he, along with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, will jointly inaugurate the Afghanistan-India Friendship Dam which was earlier named as Salma Dam. 

Briefing about the PM’s foreign visit, Foreign Secretary Dr S Jaishankar said on Friday that the dam, built over the past several years at a total cost of Rs 1700 crores with Indian assistance, was a dream project for the Afghan people. It would generate 42 MW of electricity and irrigate about 75,000 hectares of land.

“First envisaged in 1976, the dam has been built under very challenging circumstances and is one of the most important development projects undertaken by India in Afghanistan. Nearly 500 Indian engineers have been involved in the project which goes on to show the amount of goodwill which India has earned in Afghanistan as a steady developmental partner,’’ he said. It will be Prime Minister Modi’s second visit to Afghanistan within six months. He had visited Kabul on December 25 last year to dedicate to the Afghan people the newly-constructed Parliament building of Afghanistan by India which has developmental partnership with Afghanistan worth 2 billion US dollars. 

Dr Jaishankar said that India has built roads, radio stations, transmission lines, power sub-stations, hospitals and educational institutions in Afghanistan which had been afflicted by terrorism, fighting and ravaged by war.  

From Afghanistan, the Prime Minister will travel to Qatar on Saturday evening. Modi has already visited three other important Gulf nations, covering UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman. 

The Foreign Secretary said that the Prime Minister’s visit to Qatar should be seen as reflective of the importance which India attaches to the Gulf region as a whole which is home to about 8 million Indians, accounts for India’s two-third energy supplies and has trade worth nearly 112 billion US dollars. Modi will have talks with his counterpart in Doha as well as call on the Emir of Qatar who had visited India last year. Qatar is also largest LNG supplier to India, fulfilling 65 per cent of the country’s needs. 

Nearly 6.30 lakh Indians live in Qatar which has notched up bilateral trade worth 10 billion US dollars with India. “This Prime Ministerial visit is also important as Qatar has a sovereign wealth fund and there are business leaders looking to explore investment opportunities in India,’’ Dr Jaishankar added.

PM’s next stop will be Switzerland which has emerged as 5th largest trading partner of India globally and 11th largest investor in India. Stressing that the Swiss visit of the Prime Minister should not be underrated, Dr Jaishankar said that India has interests in renewable energy and vocational education in Switzerland. Modi will meet the Swiss Confederation president as well as address a meeting of the business leaders.

From Switzerland, Prime Minister Modi will head to Washington, arriving in the American capital city on June 6 on his second bilateral visit to the US, the first being in September 2014. Giving a brief background of the US visit, the Foreign Secretary said that President Obama had spoken to PM Modi about inviting some world leaders in the last year of his presidency. The visit, he said, signifies a productive relationship between India and the US and should be seen as a consolidation visit as both President Obama and PM Modi have worked together over the past two years to progress the relationship and took it forward on several fronts.

Apart from talks with President Obama, the central theme of Modi’s visit will be his address to the joint meeting of the US Congress on June 8, a rare honour being extended to a foreign leader for the first time in this year. Modi will be the 5th Indian Prime Minister to deliver the address after Rajiv Gandhi, PV Narasimha Rao, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Dr Manmohan Singh.  

Besides being the largest trading partner of India, the US is extending assistance to several flagship programmes of the Modi government, including Make in India, Smart Cities and Digital India. The two countries have cooperated in the fields of energy, education, science and technology, health, and space. A joint statement is expected at the end of Modi’s visit to America.

Explaining India’s efforts to get NSG membership, the Foreign Secretary said that over the next 15 years a large number of nuclear reactors will be required to fulfill the country’s energy needs as India would also seek to expand its nuclear trade. 

He said that India has complied with all international norms and NSG and the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) should not be confused. He said that India’s record in nuclear energy segment has been solid and credible and the world was comfortable with it. He said that India has fulfilled all its commitments since 2008, be it separation of civil and strategic side or follow up of additional protocol.  

PM’s last stop will be Mexico, which has seen two prime ministerial visits in the past when Rajiv Gandhi visited in 1986 and Dr Manmohan Singh in 2012 to attend a G-20 meet. With about 6 billion US dollar trade with India, Mexico has seen Indian presence in sectors like pharmaceuticals, automotive parts and the two sides want to scale up their economic cooperation. Mexico also imports crude oil to India.