Buenos Aires, July 6
After concluding a successful and productive visit to Argentina on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for Brazil, the fourth leg of his five-nation tour, where he will also attend the 17th BRICS Summit in Rio De Janeiro.
Before departing for Brazil, the Prime Minister also thanked the government and the people of Argentina as well as Argentine President Javier Milei for their warm hospitality on his two-day visit to the South American country.
"My visit to Argentina has been a productive one. I am confident that our discussions will add significant momentum to our bilateral friendship and fulfil the strong potential that exists. I thank President Milei, the Government, and the people of Argentina for their warmth," PM Modi wrote on his official X account.
"After a fruitful visit to Argentina, PM @narendramodi has departed from Buenos Aires for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil," Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on X.
During his visit, PM Modi held talks with President Milei and agreed to diversify the bilateral trade basket.
In their wide-ranging talks, the two leaders emphasised boosting bilateral defence cooperation as it will serve each other's strategic interests.
In the meeting, the Prime Minister also thanked President Milei for extending strong support to India following the Pahalgam terror attack and appreciated Argentina's solidarity during this difficult period.
Earlier on Friday evening, Prime Minister Modi was warmly received by President Milei when he arrived at Casa Rosada.
On arrival in Buenos Aires on Friday evening, Prime Minister Modi was accorded a ceremonial welcome.
This is a seminal year for India-Argentina ties as the two countries celebrate 75 years of the establishment of diplomatic ties.
The two leaders met in restricted and delegation level formats.
They held extensive discussions and reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral relations.
They called for enhancing cooperation in the fields of critical minerals, oil and gas, defence, nuclear energy, agriculture, science and technology, use of drones in agriculture, fisheries & monitoring of power transmission lines, ICT, Digital Public Infrastructure, UPI, space, railways, pharma, sports and people-to-people ties.
The two leaders took stock of the ongoing economic collaboration.
Prime Minister Modi noted that while bilateral trade was on a stable trajectory, the two sides needed to work on the diversification of the trade basket to harness the full potential of commercial engagement. In this context, they also discussed expansion of India-MERCOSUR Preferential Trade Agreement.
The two leaders also agreed that terrorism poses a grave threat to humanity and reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen the global fight against the menace.
Both PM Modi and President Milei agreed to continue working closely to strengthen the strategic partnership. They called for giving greater voice to the concerns of the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi, prior to concluding his visit, paid floral tribute at the busts of Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore in Buenos Aires.
President Milei thanked Prime Minister Modi for his historic visit to Argentina.
Prime Minister Modi also invited President Milei to visit India at a mutually convenient time.
Though PM Modi visited Argentina in 2018 to attend the G20 summit, this was the first bilateral visit to the country by an Indian Prime Minister after a gap of 57 years.
Earlier on Saturday, Prime Minister Modi laid a wreath here at the memorial of General Jose de San Martin, regarded as a national hero in Argentina.
During his visit to Brazil, he will attend the BRICS Summit, among other engagements.
In his departure statement, Prime Minister Modi said India is committed to BRICS as a vital platform for cooperation among emerging economies.
"Together, we strive for a more peaceful, equitable, just, democratic and balanced multipolar world order," he said.
BRICS, consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, has been expanded with five additional members: Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.
PM Modi arrived here from Trinidad and Tobago where he held bilateral talks with counterpart Kamla Persad-Bissessar and the two countries inked six agreements to shore up their cooperation in several sectors, including infrastructure, pharmaceuticals and culture.
In the final leg of his visit, PM Modi will travel to Namibia.
