Trade and security cooperation, conflicts in Ukraine and West Asia and dealing with disruptions in energy supply chains and trade are expected to be the focus during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s four-nation visit to Europe next month, sources familiar with the matter said.
The visit is expected to take Modi to the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Italy from May 15 to 20, said the source, who requested anonymity. The Prime Minister will participate in the third India-North India Summit while in Norway, and is also expected to make a short stop in the UAE at the beginning or end of the visit, sources said.
Last year, Modi canceled a planned visit to Croatia, Norway and the Netherlands after Indian military strikes on terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan in response to the Pahalgam terror attack. The visit to the three countries was scheduled to take place from May 13 to 17, 2025, but was unable to go ahead due to the four-day-long conflict between India and Pakistan.
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The two sources said that the visit to the Netherlands aims to enhance cooperation in areas ranging from trade to the green economy. They said that the two sides have strengthened cooperation in areas such as water, health, clean energy, defense and security in recent years, and a major breakthrough in cooperation in the field of semiconductors is expected to be achieved during the visit.
An Indian trade delegation visited the Dutch Semiconductor Center in Eindhoven in March to discuss investment opportunities as New Delhi accelerates its efforts to build a chip industry. Dutch chip equipment maker ASML has announced plans to open a support office in India.
The visit will also lead to Modi’s first in-person meeting with his Dutch counterpart Rob Jetten, who became prime minister in February. The two leaders spoke by phone for the first time in March and discussed bilateral relations and the repercussions of the conflict in West Asia.
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The two sources said that the trip to Sweden will be an opportunity to review cooperation in key areas such as trade, innovation and technology with a member of the European Union. Sweden also hosted the first India-Nordic summit in 2018, and the two sides have a wide-ranging joint action plan and joint innovation partnership.
The third India-Nordic summit will be the focus of the visit to Norway, which is also a member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and has concluded a free trade agreement with India in 2024. The India-Nordic summit brings together the leaders of India, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland. The first summit was held in Sweden in 2018 and the second in Denmark in 2022.
The sources said that the Prime Minister’s visit to Italy is expected to focus on enhancing cooperation in areas ranging from trade to security and people-to-people relations. Italy is a key member of the European Union and the India-EU free trade agreement, which is expected to come into force early next year, is expected to feature in the discussions, they added.
The economic impact of the Iran-US conflict, especially the disruption to energy and other supply chains and efforts to end the war, is expected to be addressed throughout the visit, the people said.
The sources said that the stop in the UAE will allow the Prime Minister to review bilateral relations during a meeting with President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, as well as to discuss the upcoming BRICS summit that India will host in September. The United Arab Emirates is among the countries that joined BRICS when it was expanded in 2024.
The stopover will also be an opportunity for the Indian side to support energy supply from the UAE and discuss the welfare of the four million expatriates in the UAE. The UAE is India’s fifth-largest fuel exporter, accounting for nearly 6% of total crude oil imports, and the third-largest exporter of liquefied petroleum gas and petroleum products.
India has been reaching out to major energy suppliers in West Asia in recent days, with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar recently traveling to the UAE and Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri to Qatar. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval also visited Saudi Arabia to review the regional situation and support India’s energy security.
