PM Modi to embark on five-nation visit this week, including UAE; energy, trade in focus

THe India-Nordic breast testament be the high spot of undercoat government minister Narendra Modi’s five-nation visit beginning this week, including a stopover in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that will focus on energy cooperation and trade.Modi will pay an official visit to the UAE on May 15, during which he will meet President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to exchange views on bilateral issues, particularly energy cooperation, and regional and international issues, the external affairs ministry said in a statement on Monday.The two leaders will also discuss ways to advance the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership. The visit will help to promote significant trade and investment links between the two countries, the statement said. The UAE is India’s third largest trade partner and seventh largest source of investment cumulatively over the past 25 years. The UAE hosts more than 4.5 million Indians, and the visit will be an opportunity to discuss their welfare, the statement said.On the second leg of the visit, Modi will travel to the Netherlands during May 15-17. He will meet King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima and hold talks with Prime Minister Rob Jetten. This visit will build on close cooperation in defence, security, innovation, green hydrogen, semiconductors and a strategic partnership on water.Modi’s visit early in the tenure of Jetten’s new government will be an opportunity to deepen and expand the bilateral partnership. The Netherlands is one of India's largest trade destinations in Europe, with two-way trade worth $27.8 billion in 2024-25. The Netherlands is India's fourth largest investor with cumulative investments of $55.6 billion.Modi will then travel to Sweden for the third leg of the visit during May 17-18. He will hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on bilateral relations and to explore new avenues of cooperation, including enhancing trade that was worth $7.75 billion in 2025. Sweden’s FDI into India during 2000-2025 was worth $2.825 billion, and there is close collaboration between the two sides in green transition, artificial intelligence, emerging technologies, startups, resilient supply chains, defence, space and climate action.Modi and Kristersson will address the European Roundtable for Industry, a leading pan-European business forum, along with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.Modi will travel to Norway during May 18-19 for the third India-Nordic Summit and bilateral engagements. This will be Modi's first visit to Norway, and also the first visit by an Indian PM to the country in 43 years. Modi will meet King Harald V and Queen Sonja and hold talks with Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.Modi and Støre will address the India-Norway Business and Research Summit. The visit will be an opportunity to review bilateral relations and explore avenues to further strengthen them, with the focus on trade and investment, capitalising on the India-EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement.“The visit will also be an opportunity to induce momentum in bilateral trade worth around $2.73 billion (2024), and investments by Norway’s Government Pension Fund (GPFG) of close to $28 billion in the Indian capital market,” the statement said.“India is the world’s largest democracy and the world’s most populous country. India plays a central role in climate, technology, trade and international security. This visit underlines the importance of cooperation between India, Norway and the Nordic countries in these times of global instability. We stand together in promoting international cooperation and a rules-based world order,” Støre said in a statement.The India-Nordic Summit will be held in Oslo on May 19, and Modi will be joined by Støre, Denmark Prime Mette Frederiksen, Finland Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, Iceland Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir, and Sweden Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. This summit will build on the two previous summits in Stockholm in April 2018 and Copenhagen in May 2022, and impart a “more strategic dimension to India’s relationship with the Nordic countries”, especially in technology, innovation, green transition, blue economy, defence, space and the Arctic.The visit will also provide an impetus to India’s bilateral trade with the Nordic countries (worth $19 billion in 2024) and investment ties, and help build resilient supply chains following the India-EU and India-EFTA trade deals.In the final leg of his visit, Modi will visit Italy during May 19-20, when he will hold talks with his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni. He will also meet President Sergio Mattarella. The visit takes place against the backdrop of the two sides proactively implementing the joint strategic action plan for 2025-2029, a roadmap for cooperation in sectors such as bilateral trade, which reached $16.77 in 2025, and boosting investment, which was cumulatively worth $3.66 billion between April 2000 and September 2025.Modi's visit will “further deepen India’s partnership with Europe across sectors, particularly trade and investment ties, in light of the recently concluded India-EU FTA”, the statement said.