Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a big hit among foreign leaders. Just over ten days into office, he has a busy calendar of foreign visits starting with Bhutan and then trips to Japan, Brazil and the US in the coming weeks. Modi has received invitations from across the world and the foreign office is deciding on his tours.
Noting that the new Prime Minister’s foreign policy inbox was “very crowded”, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said here on Friday Modi will be travelling to Bhutan later this month.
This visit signals that Modi wants to foster closer ties with neighbouring countries, especially SAARC countries. With focus on the strategic region around India, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is likely to visit Bangladesh this month-end. It would be her first stand-alone bilateral visit to a South Asian country since assuming charge.
Apart from the busy foreign travel schedule of the Prime Minister and the External Affairs Minister, India will also host Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi here on Sunday. He is coming as Special Envoy of President Xi Jinping and will hold talks with Swaraj the same day. Visiting New Delhi to formally establish contacts with the new Government, Yi is also likely to call on Modi on Sunday. The spokesperson said since Parliament was in session, the Ministry will try to complete all the meetings on Sunday itself.
As regards the Prime Minister’s visit to other countries, the spokesperson said there was a request by the Japanese Government for an early visit by Modi to their country and India was working “very closely” with them and the Prime Minister could travel to Tokyo in July. During his visit there, Modi will hold talks with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe on key bilateral and regional issues in the backdrop of China’s growing assertiveness in the Asia-Pacific region.
India and Japan inked a “Strategic Global Partnership” in 2006 for strengthening ties in diverse fields, including identifying key convergences. Moreover, Modi enjoys warm relations with Japan as Gujarat Chief Minister with many Japanese companies making huge investments in the State. During his visit to the country in 2007, Modi spurred Japanese investment into Gujarat.
Meanwhile, giving details of India’s involvement at multilateral levels like Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS), G-20 and United Nations General Assembly, the spokesperson said most of these conclaves are attended at the highest level from India, indicating that Modi may travel to Brazil for BRICS summit to be held in mid-July.
Referring to an invitation from the US for a summit meeting between President Barack Obama and Modi, he said Obama was among the first foreign leaders to make a congratulatory call to Modi during which a specific invitation was made. “We have received a specific date for the visit (from the US). We are now in contact with the US to work out mutually convenient date for the Prime Minister to be in Washington for a summit-level meeting,” the spokesperson said. However, he did not give dates and only said that it will be in September, at the time around the UN General Assembly.
Asked if all the issues pertaining to senior Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, who was arrested and subsequently released on a bail in a visa fraud case in New York last year, were over, the spokesperson said there were “residual issues” in this matter which were being attended at appropriate levels.
On the visit of Nisha Desai Biswal, the Obama Administration’s point person for South and Central Asia, from Saturday, he said she was coming to hold regular official-level meeting with her counterpart, the Joint Secretary in American division of the External Affairs Ministry. Elaborating on the likely calendar of the External Affairs Minister, Akbaruddin said she is going to a neighbouring country this month but did not specify the country and the dates.
Asked if Bhutan will be the first outside visit for the Minister as well apart from that of the Prime Minister, the spokesperson said, “I can confirm that both the Prime Minister and the External Affairs Minister will have their first visits to neighbours and both these are in June.”
“If you would like to know whether the External Affairs Minister independently would be going to another neighbour, my answer would be yes,” he said, adding, “This will indicate to you that the neighbourhood is India’s priority. We will let you know those when, because it is not before the visit of the Prime Minister to Bhutan.”
Bangladesh Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali had written a letter to Swaraj soon after she was sworn in as External Affairs Minister on May 26, felicitating her and inviting her to visit Bangladesh.