Prime Minister Narendra Modi has arrived in Maputo on first leg of his five-day tour of Africa on Thursday. The four-nation tour will take him to Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday arrived in Mozambique as part of his four-nation Africa tour aimed at enhancing ties with that continent, particularly in the economic sphere and people-to-people contacts.
“A Maputo morning, an African dawn! PM @narendramodi arrives in Mozambique for the first leg of his visit,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted on Modi’s arrival in Mozambique’s capital Maputo.
Modi begins his five-day tour with Mozambique and will then travel to South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya. The focus of the African tour will be on deepening cooperation in areas of hydrocarbons, maritime security, trade and investment, agriculture and food.
“Beginning my Africa tour with a visit to Mozambique. This visit will strengthen India’s bond with Mozambique,” the Prime Minister said in a tweet.
The Prime Minister emplanes for a vital four nation Africa tour. The First Nation he will visit is Mozambique. pic.twitter.com/yyGwjW61N6
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 6, 2016
This is Modi’s first official visit to continental Africa. He had earlier visited the island nations of Mauritius and Seychelles.
Modi will arrive in Maputo, Mozambique’s capital, on Thursday morning.
This will be the first prime ministerial visit from India to the southeast African nation in 36 years since the visit of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1982.
After concluding his engagements in Mozambique, he will leave for South Africa on Thursday evening.
His engagements in South Africa will span across Pretoria, Johannesburg, Durban and Pietermaritzburg on Friday and Saturday.
Following this, he will leave for Dodoma, Tanzania’s capital, from Durban on Saturday evening.
After completing his engagements in Dodoma, Modi will leave for Nairobi, Kenya, on Sunday evening.
Ahead of his departure, the Prime Minister tweeted on Wednesday that his visit was aimed at enhancing India-Africa ties.