NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to undertake a slew of key trips as part of diplomatic outreach for 2020.
Modi has been invited for the January-end Davos meet. He is also expected in Dhaka in the middle of March for the launch of the birth centenary celebrations of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founder of Bangladesh, officials ET spoke with said.
In May, besides being in Russia for the Victory Day celebrations in Moscow on the 9th, during which an Indian military contingent is expected to participate in the parade at Red Square, Modi may also visit other European capitals.
July will see the prime minister back in Russia for the SCO-BRICS Summits in St Petersburg, the officials said.
The next edition of the Indo-EU Summit, in which both sides will aim to strengthen ties, is being held in Brussels next year and will be on the PM’s travel itinerary.
Later in the year in November, Modi is expected to visit Riyadh for the G-20 Summit and Vietnam for the East Asia & ASEAN summits. The third informal summit in China is also scheduled for 2020 and so is a visit to Japan for the Indo-Japan annual summit.
New Delhi is also planning a meeting with Pacific Island states in the Pacific region. The fourth edition of India-Africa Summit is also scheduled this year.
All eyes will be on whether G-7 Summit host USA invites India as a guest country for the global meet.
January will also mark the start of foreign leaders’ visits to India. While the Australian PM is expected next month, the Indo-Russia annual summit (20th edition) later in the year is expected to bring the Russian president. Japanese PM Shinzo Abe is expected in India in the first half of the year for the summit that was postponed due to protests in Guwahati over the citizenship law. Towards end of year, India will also host SCO Heads of Government meet for the first time ever.
Source: Economic Times
