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Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visits to 58 countries in the last five years came at an expense of ₹517.82 crore, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday told the Rajya Sabha.
The countries visited included five trips each to Russia, the United States and China, the maximum number of trips the PM has made to a country. Among other countries were Germany, Spain, Sri Lanka, Japan, Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates, etc.
The Minister of State for External Affairs, V Muraleedharan revealed the information in response to a question by Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Fauzia Khan.
During the trips, some important Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) on trade, investment, technology and defence fields were signed, the minister added.
In 2020, Modi visited no country in view of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. His last visit was to Brazil in November 2019.
Muraleedharan further said that Modi's visits have resulted in strengthening India's relations with these countries on various aspects, including technology, trade and investment, space, maritime and defence collaboration.
"These in turn have contributed to India's national development agenda to promote economic growth and well being of our people. India is now increasingly contributing to shaping the global agenda at the multilateral level including on climate change, trans-national crime & terrorism, cybersecurity & nuclear non-proliferation, and offering to the world its own unique initiatives for global issues like the International Solar Alliance and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure," Scroll.in quoted the minister as saying.
