Brussels: Prime Minister Narendra Modi was given a guard of honour upon his arrival in Brussels for the first leg of his three nation tour of Belgium, United States and Saudi Arabia, where he will participate in the European Union-India Summit and will also pay homage to the victims of the deadly terror attacks in the city last week.
This is the Prime Minister Modi’s first official visit to Belgium.
Prime Minister is also expected to sign several agreements with European Union member nations.
In Brussels, the Prime Minister would be holding bilateral talks with his Belgian counterpart Charles Michel later in the day he will hold meetings with the Members of European Parliament (MEPs), Indologists, Belgian CEOs as well as a wide cross section of the Indian diaspora in Belgium and he would also interact with the Board Members of the Association of Diamond Traders in Belgium.
The same evening, he will address a community programme and interact with the Indian diaspora.
European Union officials said, Prime Minister Modi’s decision to attend the EU-India Summit amid heightened security concerns in the region, is a welcome sign that both sides are keen to re-establish a relationship that has been languishing in recent years.
European officials hope the closed-door summit will yield a joint statement and an agenda that will serve as a roadmap for EU-India cooperation in what is referred to as Action 2020. This includes concrete priority actions for the strategic partnership between the two sides over the next five years.
From Brussels, Prime Minister Modi will leave for Washington to attend the Fourth Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) on March 31 and April 1, where he is expected to make specific announcements and proposals with regard to nuclear security.
Thereafter, he will travel to Saudi Arabia. (ANI)