5 countries, 6 days and many big agreements; What is special for India in this foreign visit of PM Modi?

PM Narendra Modi 5 Countries Visit: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on an official visit to UAE, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Italy from May 15 to 20. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the objective of this visit is to continuously strengthen India’s partnerships in areas such as energy, trade, investment, defense and new technology. The PM will start his visit from UAE on May 15. There he will meet UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

PM Modi has visited UAE seven times since 2014 and Sheikh Mohammed has visited India five times. His last visit was in January 2026, in which he came with the next generation of leaders. This reflects the strong relations between the two countries, which have grown stronger with time.

UAE is very important for energy security

Even amidst the current global circumstances, the UAE remains and will continue to be India’s most reliable energy partner. India’s energy security has been further strengthened due to long-term supply agreements. In this visit, special attention will be paid to further increasing energy cooperation. Apart from this, the merchandise trade between the two countries has crossed US $ 100 billion for the first time and it will reach $ 101.25 billion in the financial year 2025-26.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Sheikh Mohammed, (Source- Social media)

During Sheikh Mohammed’s visit to India in January 2026, the two countries had set a target of doubling bilateral trade to $200 billion by 2032. The UAE is India’s 7th largest investor, with a total foreign direct investment (FDI) of $25.19 billion so far.

Welfare of Indian diaspora

Indian expatriates living in UAE are the largest foreign community there. They are the backbone of the UAE’s economy and society. Their welfare is of great importance to both the countries. Despite global economic challenges, this expatriate community continues to send remittances to India, which also benefits India’s foreign exchange reserves.

Strategic and geopolitical context

After UAE, the Prime Minister will go to Netherlands. This is the Prime Minister’s second visit to the Netherlands after 2017. The visit is taking place in the post-India-EU Free Trade Agreement (MTA) environment. Today the Netherlands sees India not just as a market, but as a major power. The advanced technology ecosystem of the Netherlands and India’s ability to implement at scale together create a partnership model that can be achieved through ‘innovation and scale-up’ It can be said. This is especially visible in areas like semiconductors, water management, hydrogen and marine technology.

Trade, investment and importance of EU FTA

Netherlands is India’s 11th largest trading partner in the world. It is the third largest export market in Europe and the largest in the world. Trade between the two countries stood at US $ 27.8 billion in the financial year 2024-25. It is also India’s fourth largest investor, with a total foreign investment of $55.6 billion. At the same time, there has been an investment of 28 billion dollars from India in Netherlands. More than 300 companies are working in both the countries. The India-EU FTA is expected to further strengthen this partnership.

During this visit, an agreement will be signed between Tata Electronics and ASML Netherlands, under which necessary equipment will be provided to the semiconductor factory to be built in Dholera, Gujarat. The Prime Minister and the Prime Minister of the Netherlands will together visit the Afsluitdyke Dam. It is part of India-Netherlands cooperation, which focuses on clean energy, water management and sustainable fisheries. Its objective is to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and strengthen energy security.

Transport, diaspora and tourism

Both countries are working to ease the movement of people (migration and mobility). The Prime Minister’s program will reach out to over 90,000 Indian expatriates and over two lakh Surinamese Hindustani community, the largest Indian origin community in mainland Europe. There is also a lot of potential to increase tourism from Netherlands to India. After Netherlands, Prime Minister Modi will reach Sweden. Prime Minister Modi will visit Sweden after eight years. Earlier he had visited Sweden in April 2018, when the first India-Nordic summit was held.

Strategic and geopolitical context

Sweden spends more than three percent of its GDP on research and development (R&D) and consistently ranks among the top countries in the European Innovation Scoreboard. Sweden has taken tough steps in Europe to reduce dependence on China, such as removing Chinese companies from telecom networks and strengthening research security rules. For this reason, today Sweden sees India not just as a market, but as a big and important global power.

Importance of Make in India and EU FTA

Goods and services trade between the two countries is expected to reach US$7.75 billion by 2025. More than 280 Swedish companies are operating in India. An important part of this visit is also the meeting with the European Round Table of Industries, which will further strengthen India’s partnership with the big industries of Europe, especially after the India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

Swedish company ‘SAAB’ It is building its first Carl-Gustaf arms manufacturing factory outside India in Jhajjar, Haryana. This is India’s first defense project, which involves 100 percent foreign direct investment (FDI). Also, Sweden is one of the countries with large critical mineral reserves in Europe, which makes India-Sweden cooperation even more important in strengthening the supply chain for electric vehicles, semiconductors and defense electronics.

Special emphasis on technology and innovation

‘Sweden-India Technology’ between India and Sweden and AI Corridor’ An agreement has been signed for, in which work will be done on priorities like 6G, Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Computing, Life Sciences and Digital India. More than 80 Swedish companies participated in the AI ​​Impact Summit 2026. Apart from this, LEAD IT 3.0, which was started jointly by India and Sweden, has now reached 50 members from 18 countries. The agreement signed between Maharashtra and Candela in March 2025 has led to an investment of Rs 1,990 crore in Swedish Electric Boats.

Modi will make a historic visit to Norway

after a trip to sweden Prime Minister Modi Will take a historic tour of Norway. This is because this is the first separate bilateral visit by the Indian Prime Minister after 43 years. Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Oslo is historic, as no Indian Prime Minister had made a separate bilateral visit to Norway in the last 43 years. The visit will also mark the third India-Nordic summit, taking place after Stockholm 2018 and Copenhagen 2022. This will further deepen the relations between India and the Nordic countries, which are now only reaching the level of big partners like America.

PM’s visit to Italy on 19-21 May

After leaving Norway, Prime Minister Modi will reach Italy. Prime Minister Modi will visit Italy from 19-21 May 2026, at the invitation of Prime Minister Georgia Meloni. This visit is taking place after continuously increasing talks between the two leaders. This partnership is being taken forward through the Joint Strategic Plan of Action for 2025-29, which is the roadmap for cooperation between the two countries.

PM Modi with Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, (Source- Social media)

Energy security and strong supply chains

Italy now sees India not just as a market, but as a major global power and an essential partner for Europe. Italy is a founding member of the IMEEC (India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor) and connectivity to Genoa has also started through the Sparkle-Airtel Blue-Raman submarine cable. With this, Italy has become an important western part of this corridor. IMEEC will make the supply chain more stable and India’s energy security will also be strengthened.

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Trade, investment and importance of EU FTA

Italy is India’s fourth largest trading partner. Trade between the two countries is set to reach US$16.77 billion in 2025, and is targeted to reach 20 billion euros by 2029. The acquisition of Iveco Group by Tata Motors for 3.8 billion euros is India’s largest investment in Italy to date.

With agency input-