New Delhi: Just over 10 days into the office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a long list of foreign leaders who have expressed a desire to meet him. Addressing the first press conference of the newly elected government, Ministry of External Affairs Syed Akbaruddin spokesperson said, "The inbox of the Prime Minister is pretty crowded. Multilateral visits from BRICS, UNGA, E Asia, ASEAN, SAARC, G20 are on agenda."
Among Modi's scheduled visits are the BRICS summit that will be held in July, the United National General Assembly (UNGA) meet in September, Oceana cross-country meet in October and G-20 summit in November. The MEA spokesperson also added that Modi might also visit the SAARC summit that is due to be held in November in Kathmandu adding that Bhutan will be PM'S first foreign visit later in June.
"PM's Bhutan visit will happen later this month. All dates speculated by media are incorrect. We are still exploring the dates," he said.
He also said that no dates for the PM's US visit have been finalised as yet. "Obama had extended an invitation to Modi. We have received a particular date for the PM. We are trying to figure out date which is comfortable for both the countries. However, his visit will take place in September," Akbaruddin said.
Modi may also visit Japan in July. "We have received an invitation from Japan as well. I am talking to my counterpart to fix particular dates. He may visit Japan in July. We will also be interacting with strategic partners at multi-lateral meetings," he said.
Modi is likely to visit and cater to the neighbours first. "PM feels India's policy priorities are in neighbourhood," he said. Akbaruddin also added that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will be meeting External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday.
"He has asked to meet the PM. We will try to arrange all meetings on Sunday as Monday has major parliamentary events," he said but refused to comment on the agenda of Parliament.
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