President Bola Tinubu will welcome Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the State House in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, on Sunday.
A statement released by Bayo Onanuga, the president’s special adviser on information and strategy, indicated that Modi is scheduled to arrive on Saturday. The two leaders previously met in New Delhi during the first day of the G20 summit hosted by India in September.
Onanuga noted that this will be the first visit to Nigeria by an Indian prime minister since Manmohan Singh’s state visit in 2007, establishing a strategic partnership between the two countries.
He added that Tinubu and Modi would aim to further strengthen Nigeria’s and India’s relations during their bilateral talks and that the leaders will sign a Memorandum of Understanding to boost collaboration in key areas.
Modi said that his visit was at Tinubu’s invitation.
“My trip will provide an opportunity to advance our Strategic Partnership founded on mutual values of democracy and pluralism,” the prime minister expressed.
“I am also looking forward to engaging with the Indian community and friends in Nigeria who have extended me warm welcome messages in Hindi.”
Despite declining trade volume, India remained among Nigeria’s top five trading partners last year.
