Europe visit comes at a time when region faces many challenges, choices, says PM
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday issued a departure statement before he leaves for Germany in his first visit to Europe this year. “My visit to Europe comes at a time when the region faces many challenges and choices.
Through my engagements, I intend to strengthen the spirit of cooperation with our European partners, who are important companions in India’s quest for peace and prosperity,” the prime minister said.
PM Modi’s Europe visit comes at a time when the Ukraine war is in its ninth week. He is set to meet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, Denmark PM Mette Frederiksen in Copenhagen and France’s Emmanuel Macron in Paris, who was recently re-elected as the president for a second term.
“President Macron has very recently been re-elected, and my visit just ten days after the result will not only allow me to convey my personal congratulations in-person, but also reaffirm the close friendship between the two countries.
This will also give us the opportunity to set the tone of the next phase of the India-France Strategic Partnership,” the prime minister said in the departure statement published on his official website.
“PM Modi will exchange India’s perspectives on Ukraine during his visit to Germany, France and Denmark,” foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
An exchange of views “on strategic, regional and global developments that concern us both” is set to be the focus of his meeting with the German chancellor, he said.
The prime minsiter will be in Germany for two days from Monday. The next two days, he will be in Denmark for the second edition of the India-Nordic Summit, and then he is set to make a stopover in Paris before returning.
“My visit to Berlin will be an opportunity to hold detailed bilateral discussions with Chancellor Scholz, whom I met at G20 last year in his previous capacity as Vice-Chancellor and Finance Minister.
We will co-chair the 6th India-Germany Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC), a unique biennial format which India conducts only with Germany. Several Indian ministers will also travel to Germany and hold consultations with their German counterparts,” he said.