New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will next week visit Rwanda and Uganda before heading to South Africa to attend the BRICS Summit during which key global issues, including international peace and security, are expected to be discussed.
The prime minister, who will visit the three countries from July 23-27, will first stop in Rwanda for a two-day “historic” visit, the first by an Indian premier, T S Tirumurti, secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), told reporters at a briefing here.
He will then head to Uganda on July 24 and from there to South Africa. Modi will attend the 10th addition of the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg during which the grouping’s leaders are expected to deliberate on global hot-spot issues, international peace and security, global governance and trade issues among others, Tirumurti said.
On the sidelines of the summit, the prime minister is also expected to meet some leaders bilaterally, he said. Asked if there would be a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Tirumurti said, “At this point, we don’t have a fix on the bilaterals and with which country.”
Modi will be received by Rwandan President Paul Kagame when he arrives in country on the first leg of his three-nation tour. During the visit, he will hold delegation-level talks, pay homage at the Kigali Genocide Memorial, interact with a business forum, and also with the Indian community, Tirumurti said.
A defence cooperation agreement is also expected to be signed between India and Rwanda during the visit, he said. India will also be opening a mission in Rwanda very soon, Tirumurti said. “During this visit, we expect to conclude two lines of credit — one of 100 million for development of industrial parks and Kigali special economic zone (SEZ), and another one for USD 100 million for agriculture and irrigation,” he said.
An important element of the programme would be the prime minister’s visit to Rweru Model Village for gifting 200 cows as a contribution from India to the ‘Girinka’ scheme of Rwanda, Tirumurti said.
Under ‘Girinka’, a social protection scheme of the Rwandan government personally overseen by President Kagame, poorest families are gifted dairy cows by the government and the first female calf born to the cow is gifted to the neighbour, thus promoting brotherhood and solidarity. The cows to be gifted by India would be sourced from Rawanda, Tirumurti said.
PTI