Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in Nigeria, where he held a meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Sunday. The meeting of PM Modi and President Tinubu took place at the Presidential Palace in Abuja. During the meeting, PM Modi discussed with Tinubu on promoting partnership between the two countries in various areas including trade, investment and digital public infrastructure. India and Nigeria exchanged MoUs in the presence of both the leaders.
During the meeting, PM Modi said, ‘On behalf of 140 crore Indians, I express my condolences on the loss of life and property due to the floods in Nigeria last month. India is sending 20 tonnes of humanitarian aid in support of your relief efforts. He further said that it is a matter of great pleasure for me that I got the opportunity to visit Nigeria at the beginning of my third term.
PM Modi said, ‘I express my gratitude for your personal commitment to strengthening the strategic relations between India and Nigeria. I am happy that last year, under India’s chairmanship, Nigeria participated for the first time as a guest country at the G-20 Summit, together we provided permanent membership of the G-20 to the African Union. I think it was historic. It is a matter of happiness that Nigeria has been given the status of partner country in BRICS. I congratulate Nigeria on this important achievement.
PM Modi said, ‘We give high priority to our strategic partnership with Nigeria. We have strong cooperation in many areas like defence, energy, financial issues, technology, health, education and culture. There are many new possibilities associated with our relations. He said that we are working together to deal with challenges like terrorism, separatism, piracy and drug trafficking. We will continue this more strongly in the times to come.
#WATCH Abuja, Nigeria: Prime Minister Narendra Modi says, “I express gratitude for your personal commitment to strengthening strategic relations between India and Nigeria. I am happy that last year, under the chairmanship of India, Nigeria joined G20 Summit for the first time… pic.twitter.com/s8AHKTogfT
— ANI (@ANI) November 17, 2024
Expressing confidence, PM Modi said that I am confident that our conversation today will add a new chapter to our relations. Together we will highlight the priorities of the Global South at the global level and our joint efforts will lead to success.
PM Modi reached Nigeria’s capital Abuja on Sunday morning. This is the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Nigeria after a gap of 17 years. Modi is in Nigeria as part of a three-nation tour. He will go to Brazil from Abuja to attend the G-20 summit. Their final destination will be Guyana.
India-Nigeria relations were elevated to the status of strategic partnership during the visit of then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Nigeria in October 2007. Nigeria has been a close partner of India for more than six decades. India established its diplomatic corps in Lagos in November 1958, two years before Nigeria became independent in 1960.
