PM Modi expected to travel to US this month; here’s a look at his foreign trips in last two years

This visit is particularly significant as it will be the PM’s second diplomatic trip abroad since the pandemic first made its presence felt in India, last year. Since 2014, PM Modi has made over 100 trips abroad, visiting at least 60 countries.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to travel to the United States towards the end of September, which will mark his first foreign visit in around six months. This will also be the first time PM Modi will be visiting the country after President Joe Biden assumed office.

As per a tentative schedule, PM Modi’s visit will take place between September 22-27, sources said. During his trip, the Prime Minister is expected to visit both Washington and New York.

Apart from addressing the crisis unfolding in Afghanistan, the two sides will also be working on an ambitious agenda concerning the Indo-Pacific region. An in-person Quad leaders’ summit is slated to take place in Washington around the same time as PM Modi’s visit. On September 25, the PM is expected to address the annual high-level UN General Assembly session in person, as per a provisional list of speakers released by the UN.

This visit is particularly significant as it will be the PM’s second diplomatic trip abroad since the pandemic first made its presence felt in India last year. Since 2014, PM Modi has made over 100 trips abroad, visiting at least 60 countries. But the coronavirus pandemic brought all diplomatic travel to a standstill, until early this year, with 2020 becoming the first year since 2014 when Modi didn’t visit a foreign country.

Here is a look back at all of PM Modi’s foreign visits in the last two years

Bangladesh: March, 2021

His first visit since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic took place in March this year, when he travelled to Bangladesh for two days to take part in commemorations of three epochal events in the country: Mujib Borsho or the birth centenary of Bangladesh’s father of the nation, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, 50 years of diplomatic ties and 50 years of Bangladesh’s war of liberation.

Brazil: November 13-14, 2019 

Before the pandemic struck, Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to Brazil on November 13-14, 2019 to attend the 11th BRICS summit. He met the leaders of the four major emerging economies in the world – namely Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa and called for closer cooperation in areas such as counter-terrorism, trade and culture to bolster ties and formulate a common response to global issues.

Thailand: November 2-4, 2019 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Thailand between November 2-4 to attend the ASEAN-India, East Asia and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) summits. He travelled to Bangkok at the invitation of Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.

Saudi Arabia: October 29, 2019 

PM Modi arrived in Riyadh on October 29 to meet Saudi King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and held delegation-level talks with the crown prince. The two world leaders signed an agreement on establishing the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council.

Several major pacts were signed, including an MoU to roll out the RuPay card – India’s digital payment system – and one on bringing coordination on e-migration systems between the two countries.

United States: 20-27 September, 2019

The Prime Minister’s last visit to the United States was in 2019, when he attended United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). He also travelled to Houston, where he attended the ‘Howdy, Modi!’ event organised in his honour by Indian diaspora there. PM Modi and Trump spoke of strengthened ties between India-US, and addressed each other as “loyal friends”. They used each others campaign slogans; Modi nearly endorsed Trump’s reelection with ‘Abki baar Trump sarkar’, and ‘Make America great again’, while Trump borrowed the ‘Make in India’ slogan to promote ‘Made in America’.

Russia: 4-5 September, 2019

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Russia in September, 2019, where he met Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum and discussed ways to further cement the special and privileged Strategic Partnership between the two countries.

Calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a “good friend”, Modi said India-Russia friendship was not only restricted to their respective capital cities. “We have put people at the core of this relationship,” the PM, who is on a two-day visit to Russia, said.

UAE and Bahrain: 23-25 August, 2019

PM Modi paid a three-day visit to the UAE and Bahrain, where he held extensive talks with top leaders of the two countries on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest.

In the UAE, the Prime Minister received the the ‘Order of Zayed’, the highest civil decoration of the country. He then visited Bahrain for two days, in the first first ever prime ministerial visit from India to the Gulf nation.

France: 22-23 August, 2019

PM Modi visited France, where he held a summit interaction with President Emmanuel Macron to further boost the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership. He also met his French counterpart Edouard Philippe and interacted with the Indian community. He dedicated a memorial to the Indian victims of the two Air India crashes in France in the 1950s and 1960s.

Bhutan: 17-18 August, 2019

On his second visit to Bhutan and first since his re-election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a wide range of discussion over the expansion of bilateral partnership with his Bhutanese counterpart Lotay Tshering Saturday and signed 10 MoUs to infuse new energy in their ties.

Japan: 27-29 June, 2019 

Prime Minister Modi travelled to Japan to attend the 2019 G-20 summit in Osaka. Prime Minister Narendra Modi met several global leaders and also addressed an informal meeting of BRICS leaders on the sidelines of the summit. He held bilateral talks with US President Donald Trump and thanked him for expressing his “love towards India” in a letter recently delivered by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Modi held an informal meeting with BRICS leaders’ meeting in which he emphasised on the need to stop all the mediums of support to terrorism and racism.

Kyrgyzstan (14-15 June, 2019)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi went to Kyrgyzstan’s Bishkek to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in June, 2019.

Sri Lanka (9 June, 2019)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with Sri Lanka’s former President Maithripala Sirisena in June, 2019. This was his first visit to Sri Lanka after returning to power, and the deadly terror attacks on Easter Sunday in which 250 people were killed in the Island nation. India had been providing intelligence and assistance in the investigation of the Islamic State-led attack.

South Korea (21-22 February, 2019)

During a two-day visit to South Korea in 2019, Prime Minister Modi was awarded the Seoul Peace Prize for 2018 for his “contribution to international cooperation and fostering global economic growth”.

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