Prime Minister Narendra Modi will leave for a three – nation tour to Belgium, United States and Saudi Arabia on Tuesday night.
Talking to news persons in Delhi last evening, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Vikas Swarup along with three Joint Secretaries of MEA said, in the first leg of the tour, the Prime Minister will reach Brussels, the capital of Belgium tomorrow.
Nandini Singla, Joint Secretary (Europe West) said, the Prime Minister will take part in a series of activities at Brussels apart from addressing Indian diaspora.
The Prime Minister will also take part in India-EU summit where he will take forward the ongoing consultations with the European Union, EU on finalization of Broad based Trade and Investment Agreement, BTIA.
The Prime Minister is the first foreign dignitary who will be on the state visit to Belgium just a week after the deadly terror bombings which rocked Brussels.
The Zaventem airport of Brussels, which bore the brunt of terror strikes, is still closed for flight operations. In his second leg of the tour, the Prime Minister will attend the fourth Nuclear Security Summit at Washington D.C. on Thursday and Friday.
He will present national progress report outlining the measures being taken by New Delhi for strengthening nuclear security and safety of nuclear technologies and devices. He is also likely to have bilateral meetings with heads of some countries.
Before wrapping up his trip, the Prime Minister will visit Saudi Arabia where 2.96 million Indians are residing. He will visit office of two Indian companies besides holding talks with Saudi leadership’s on trade and investment among other issues.
Several agreements are expected to be signed in Brussels and Saudi Arabia during the Prime Minister’s Modi’s visit. Meanwhile, a day after scores of people were killed in an attack in Lahore, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif cancelled his Washington visit where he was scheduled to attend the Nuclear Security Summit.
Prime Minister Modi and Sharif were expected to meet at the Summit.
ANI
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