With the Ukraine conflict continuing for the last 11 months, several world leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, are likely to visit India in the next few months to discuss the adverse impact of the crisis on food, fuel and fertilisers, besides increasing Chinese assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.
New Delhi has all along favoured dialogue and diplomacy to resolve the Ukraine conflict. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly urged Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to have one-on-one talks to sort out their differences.
India on January 12 and 13 will also host a virtual conference of the Global South countries to review the impact of the conflict.
The visits by these Heads of States are expected to also focus on expansion of bilateral cooperation in areas of energy, trade, technology, Defence production, healthcare and people-to-people exchanges, sources have indicated.
While Chancellor Scholz is expected to be in India later next month, Albanese is set to visit the country in the early part of March, sources said.
The French side was initially exploring the visit by Macron in the first week of March but the dates for the
visits have so far not been firmed up.
President of Egypt Abdel Fattah El-Sisi will visit India later this month to grace the Republic Day celebrations as the chief guest.
The Foreign Ministers of G20 countries will also be in New Delhi to attend a ministerial meeting of the powerful grouping which is likely to take place on March 1 and 2.
Several foreign leaders will also visit India to attend the ‘Raisina Dialogue’ that is scheduled to be held from March 2 to 4. It is India’s premier conference on geopolitics and geoeconomics.
Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal is also likely to visit India in the next few months.
Officials of India and Saudi Arabia are also looking at a bilateral visit to New Delhi by Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
India and Germany are keen to further enhance their ties during the German Chancellor’s visit. The political leadership of the two countries are likely to focus on cooperation in areas of trade, defence, clean energy and climate change. In December, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock paid a two-day visit to prepare for Scholz’s trip.
Prime Minister and Chancellor Scholz held bilateral talks in the Indonesian resort city of Bali on November 16 last year on the sidelines of the G20 summit.
The first meeting between the two leaders took place during Modi’s visit to Berlin on May 2 last year for the 6th India-Germany Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC).
It was followed by Modi’s visit to the Alpine castle of Schloss Elmau in southern Germany on June 26 and 27 to attend the annual summit of G-7 grouping. It will be Scholz’s first visit to India after he became German Chancellor in December 2021.
Diplomatic sources said boosting trade and maritime security cooperation will figure high on the agenda of talks between Modi and Albanese. It will be the first visit to India by the Australian leader after he took charge of the top office last May.
The ties between India and Australia have been on an upswing in the last few years. The India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) came into force last month and it is expected to facilitate significant expansion of two-way trade.
Expansion of overall defence and strategic cooperation is likely to be high on the agenda during Macron’s trip to India. French fighter jet Rafale is learnt to be ahead of American F/A-18 Super Hornet in the multi-billion dollar contract to supply 26 deck-based jets to the Indian Navy.
India may announce firming up the procurement of the marine version of the Rafale jet during Macron’s visit. However, there is no official word on it yet.
Emmanuel Bonne, the Diplomatic Advisor to the French President, visited India last week ostensibly to make preparations for Macron’s trip. Bonne held wide-ranging talks with National Security Advisor(NSA) Ajit Doval. He also called on the Prime Minister, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and India’s G-20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant.