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New Delhi: With the main agenda of strengthening the country’s energy security in view of the West Asia crisis, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday left for a six-day visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and four European countries Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Italy. In this journey, his biggest emphasis will be on energy security. Apart from this, he will also discuss increasing cooperation with these countries in trade, investment and strategic sectors.

During this period, PM Modi will also hold bilateral talks with the top leadership of these countries. In the first leg of the visit, the Prime Minister will reach UAE at noon Indian time where he will meet UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The two leaders will discuss bilateral issues, especially energy cooperation, and regional and international issues.

According to sources, there can be at least two important agreements between the two countries regarding energy security in UAE. It is noteworthy that in this situation of uncertainty arising due to the West Asia crisis, Shri Modi has appealed to the countrymen to be thrifty to conserve energy and preserve foreign exchange reserves. In the second phase of the visit, the Prime Minister will be on an official visit to the Netherlands from 15 to 17 May. This will be his second visit to Netherlands after 2017.

During this, the Prime Minister will meet King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands and will hold talks with Prime Minister Rob Jetton. In the third phase of the visit, Shri Modi will visit Gothenburg, Sweden from 17 to 18 May at the invitation of Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Christerson.

During the bilateral talks with Prime Minister Kristersen, the two leaders will discuss new possibilities for cooperation in various areas including trade, green transition, artificial intelligence, emerging technologies, startups, resilient supply chains, defence, space, climate action and people-to-people ties. The two Prime Ministers will also address the European Industry Roundtable along with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

In the fourth leg of the visit, the Prime Minister will pay an official visit to Norway from 18 to 19 May, where he will participate in the 3rd India-Nordic Summit and bilateral meetings. This will be Prime Minister Modi’s first visit to Norway and also the first visit to Norway by an Indian Prime Minister in the last 43 years.

The Prime Minister will meet King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway and hold talks with Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Storey. The Prime Minister will also address the India-Norway Business and Research Summit. The visit will provide an opportunity to further strengthen cooperation in areas such as trade and investment, India-EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement, clean and green technology and blue economy. The third India-Nordic summit will be held in Oslo on May 19.

In this, along with Prime Minister Modi, Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Storey, Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Finland’s Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, Iceland’s Prime Minister Kristrun Frostadottir and Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson will participate. In the last leg of the visit, the Prime Minister will pay an official visit to Italy from 19 to 20 May. This visit will take place on the invitation of Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni. During this, he will meet Italian President Sergio Mattarella and hold talks with Prime Minister Meloni.

The visit takes place against the backdrop of growing strategic relations between the two countries, with both sides actively implementing the Joint Strategic Action Plan 2025-2029. This action plan includes cooperation in a number of areas including trade, investment, defense and security, clean energy, innovation, science and technology and people-to-people relations.

This visit of the Prime Minister will further strengthen India’s partnership with Europe in various fields, especially in the context of the recently concluded India-EU Free Trade Agreement that will give a new direction to trade and investment relations.