Modi flew in from Afghanistan, where earlier on Saturday, he, along with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani inaugurated the Afghan-India Friendship Dam, also known as Salma Dam, in the western province of Herat. Modi’s visit to Afghanistan was the first leg of his five-nation tour.
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Later, Ghani hosted a lunch for Modi during which the two leaders held “fruitful discussions” on enhancing ties between their countries.
“It comes from the love and admiration for Afghans in our hearts”, he said.
From Afghanistan, Modi will travel to energy-rich Qatar tomorrow itself and from there he will leave for a two-day visit to Switzerland on Sunday.
PM Narendra Modi was conferred the Amir Amanullah Khan Award, highest civilian award by Afghan government.
Addressing Indian workers at a medical camp in downtown Doha last night, PM Modi said he was aware of the issues being faced by Indian workers and the companies that bring them to Qatar.
An MoU signed between Finance Intelligence Unit India (FIU-IND) and the Qatar Financial Information Unit (QFIU) would help in tracking money flow and investment from Qatar to India.
He will also interact with business leaders in Qatar with an aim to seek investment and realize the full potential of trade and investment cooperation between the two countries.
In this context, he spoke about the visit of Qatar’s Emir to India a year ago and referred to his praise of the “unmatched contribution” of the Indian community to the development of his country. “During my visit to Arlington Cemetery I will lay wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider and Space Shuttle Columbia Memorial, in which we lost an Indian origin astronaut, Kalpana Chawla”, he said while elaborating about his programmes in the U.S. “PM @narendramodi emplanes for a 5 nation tour”, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted along with a photograph of Modi leaving for the five-day trip.
He will only be the fifth Indian Prime Minister to address a joint session of Congress.
“The change in India has not happened due to Narendra Modi”. He attended the round-table meet with the businessmen.
India has a strategic partnership with Afghanistan and is implementing projects worth Dollars 2 billion to help rebuild the country’s infrastructure.
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New Delhi’s active engagement has led analysts to point to the threat of a “proxy war” in Afghanistan between India and its nuclear-armed arch-rival Pakistan.
