New Delhi: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarks on his longest ever diplomatic tour in ten years covering five nations in eight days, this would be his second one taking in five countries with the last one being in 2016 when he visited United States, Mexico, Switzerland, Qatar and Afghanistan.
Modi begins his diplomatic swing with a two-day visit from July 2 to the West African nation of Ghana which is the first Prime Ministerial visit in three decades to that nation. During his visit, the Prime Minister will have talks with President John Mahama to review bilateral partnership and discuss ways to enhance it through economic, energy, defence and developmental cooperation. Mahama who was elected President in January had visited India in 2015 for the India-Africa Forum Summit.
From Ghana, the Prime Minister will go for a two-day visit from July 3 to Trinidad and Tobago which has 40 to 45 per cent of the Indian diaspora of the Caribbean nations and its President Christine Carla Kangaloo and Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bisserrar are of Indian origin. This will be Modi’s first visit to this nation as Prime Minister and the first bilateral by an Indian PM after 1999. The visit by Prime Minister Modi to Trinidad and Tobago will mark 180 years of the arrival of Indian immigrants to this country.
From here, Modi will be in the South American nation of Argentina for two days from July 4 where he will have talks with President Javier Milei who American President Donald Trump said was his “favourite president.” The two leaders will review ongoing cooperation and discuss ways to boost defence, agriculture, mining, oil and gas, energy partnerships.
Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Argentina will mark the first full-fledged meeting between him and Argentina’s President Milei. The two leaders met earlier on the sidelines of multilateral events. Defence, rare earth minerals, agriculture, traditional and renewable energy, and trade and investment are expected to feature in India-Argentina talks this time. In the BRICS meeting in Brazil and Argentina, India is expected to reiterate its concerns on cross-border terrorism.
India and Argentina have significantly advanced bilateral cooperation in the mineral resources sector, particularly, lithium, a critical input for India’s green transition. Argentina is a major supplier of soybean and sunflower oil to India. In 2024, India was Argentina’s fifth-largest trading partner and export destination.
From Argentina, Modi will go on a four-day visit from July five to the neighbouring South American nation, Brazil, where after attending the BRICS Summit for two days at Rio De Janeiro, he will be in the nation’s capital Brasilia for two days on a state visit and would be having meetings with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at the BRICS Summit in Rio De Janeiro and in the capital Brasilia.
According to officials, during the visit to Brazil, the two sides are expected to take up defence production and cooperation, as Brazil has displayed interest in the technology for more secure communication and India’s Akash surface-to-air missile system that was used during Operation Sindoor.
“Broadly, we have a few areas that seem to be of interest to the Brazilian side. They are interested in secure communication systems on the battlefield. They are also interested in offshore patrol vessels (OPVs). Brazil has Scorpene submarines—they are interested in partnering with us in maintaining those submarines. They also seem to be interested in the Akash air defence system and in coastal surveillance systems, Garuda artillery guns and so on,” said P. Kumaran, Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs.
Discussion at the level of National Security Advisers, business council meetings, women’s business alliance and civil council-level talks will find convergence at the declaration of the leaders, said Dammu Ravi, Secretary (Economic Relations) of the MEA. He added that India will hold the BRICS chair in 2026. The highlight of the Brazil visit will be Modi’s participation in the main session of the BRICS summit on July 6, when member countries will discuss “Reform of the Global Governance”. Other items at the summit will be “Peace and Security”, “Environment, COP 30 and Global Health”, strengthening multilateralism, economic and financial affairs and Artificial Intelligence.
From Brazil, the Prime Minister will cross the Atlantic to the Southern African nation Namibia for a day on July 9 which will be his first to Nambia and the third Indian Prime Ministerial visit to that country. He will meet President Netumbo Nandi-Ndwaitwah and pay homage to the Founding Father of Namibia, Dr Sam Nujoma and address the nation’s Parliament.
The bilateral trade between the two nations has grown from less than $3 million in 2000 to almost $600 million now. Indian companies have invested in mining, manufacturing, diamond processing and services in Namibia. Eight cheetahs from Namibia were released by the prime minister at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh in September 2022, the world’s first intercontinental translocation of a major carnivore species.
– The writer is a senior journalist and media consultant. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda.
