Prime Minister Narendra Modi's aircraft on Friday was escorted by United Arab Emirates (UAE)'s F16 fighter jets ahead of his arrival in Abu Dhabi. This comes on the heels of PM Modi's five-nation tour. As the Prime Minister embarked on 6-day tour on 15 May, UAE Air Force's Block 60 ‘Desert Falcon’ fighters reportedly made a striking gesture of diplomatic honour as soon as PM Modi's plane entered the country's airspace.
BJP's official handle shared a video on X of the warm welcome, 75-year-old leader received, “𝐈𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫, 𝐔𝐀𝐄 𝐅-𝟏𝟔 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐣𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐌 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐢'𝐬 𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐭 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐔𝐀𝐄 𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.”
The video showed F-16 fighter jets flying alongside the Prime Minister's plane to escort and honour the leader upon his arrival.
PM Modi embarks on five-nation tour
PM Modi's made his first stop in Abu Dhabi where he was accorded a guard of honour. In the first leg of his five-nation visit, PM Modi is scheduled to meet UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The two leaders will old discussions on bilateral issues, with talks centred on energy cooperation, besides regional and international issues of mutual interest.
After UAE, PM Modi will visit Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Italy. During Netherlands state visit between 15 and 17 May, he is scheduled to hold talks with Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten and meet King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima on several key sectors such as semiconductors, green hydrogen, innovation, defence and water management.
The Prime Minister will then visit Sweden on 17 May and hold bilateral talks with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson before leaving a day later. According to NIThe two leaders are also expected to jointly address the European Round Table for Industry along with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Discussions are expected to be focussed around AI, emerging technologies, the green transition and resilient supply chains, ANI reported.
In Norway, PM Modi hold bilateral talks with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and participate in the 3rd India-Nordic Summit in Oslo on May 19. In this summit, several key leaders of Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Sweden will also participate.
PM Modi will travel to Italy from 19 to 20 May In the final leg of the visit. He is scheduled to hold crucial discussions with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella. This visit is expected to focus on growing India-Italy cooperation in clean energy, defence and technology.
