Abuja, November 17 (IANS). Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for Brazil from Nigeria on Sunday evening to attend the G20 summit. He described his visit to the West African country as “meaningful”.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi boards a flight to Brazil after a fruitful visit to Nigeria,” the Prime Minister’s Office wrote in a post on Twitter.
Before his departure, PM Modi also made a post on X. He thanked Nigeria “for the fruitful visit” and said it would “give momentum and strength to India-Nigeria friendship”.
Earlier on Sunday, Prime Minister Modi met Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. On reaching State House, PM Modi was formally welcomed with a 21-gun salute.
In the meeting between the two leaders, PM Modi expressed his condolences to President Tinubu for the devastation caused by the recent floods in the country. President Tinubu thanked Prime Minister Modi for the timely assistance received from India with relief material and medicines. The two leaders highlighted the strategic partnership between India and Nigeria and discussed issues to improve bilateral relations. Increasing defense and security cooperation was also discussed in the meeting.
PM Modi and President Tinubu reaffirmed their commitment to jointly fight terrorism, piracy and radicalism. PM Modi offered Nigeria India’s experience in agriculture, transportation, affordable medicine, renewable energy and digital transformation. President Tinubu appreciated the development cooperation partnership offered by India and its meaningful impact in building local capacity, skills and professional expertise.
President Tinubu appreciated India’s efforts in raising the concerns of developing countries through the ‘Voice of the Global South Summits’. The two leaders agreed to work together to fulfill the development aspirations of the ‘Global South’.
Prime Minister Modi appreciated the role played by Nigeria as Chair of ECOWAS and its contribution in multilateral fora.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu honored Prime Minister Modi with Nigeria’s highest honour, ‘The Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger’ (GCON).
Prime Minister Modi also addressed the Indian community in a program. He said the Indian community is making significant contributions to the development of Nigeria and the people of India are proud of the achievements of its expatriates.
Praising the contribution of Indian diaspora in the development of Nigeria, he said, “Today many Indian companies are giving strength to the entire economy of Nigeria. The Indian community is working shoulder to shoulder for the development of Nigeria and it is India’s People have great strength. We may come to another country, but for us the whole world is one family and every Indian is proud of your progress. Yes, my chest measures 56 inches with pride.”
He invited NRIs to attend the Pravasi Bharatiya Conference being held in Odisha in January next year.
–IANS
AKJ/
