PM Modi in Spain

Madrid: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Spain on Tuesday on a two-day visit in the second leg of his six-day, four-nation tour of Europe.

This is the first Indian prime ministerial visit to Spain in nearly 30 years after the visit of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1988.On Wednesday, Modi will call on King Felipe VI and hold a bilateral summit with his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy. The two Prime Ministers last met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Turkey’s Antalya in November 2015.Modi will also hold a round-table interaction on Wednesday with a select group of Spanish CEOs who are keen to invest and expand their presence in India.

Earlier on Tuesday, Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel headed the biannual India-Germany Inter-Governmental Consultations following which 12 agreements across various sectors were signed by the two sides. The two leaders also addressed the India-Germany Business Summit in Berlin.

Later, Modi called on President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the Bellevue Castle in the German capital before departing for Spain.

Following Wednesday’s engagements in Spain, Modi will travel to Russia where he will hold the 18th annual bilateral summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday and attend for the first time the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), a business event, the next day.

On Saturday, Modi will hold his first meeting with newly-elected French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris before returning to India.