New Delhi: In a bid to enhance India's outreach in Africa, President Ram Nath Kovind will leave for a three-nation visit on July 28. He will be accompanied by a high-level delegation for a week-long trip till August 4.
It will be the first highest state-level visit to Benin, Guinea and Gambia.
The visit, from July 28 to August 3, is expected to reinvigorate and give a new direction to India's ties with the three countries, Secretary (East) MEA Vijay Thakur Singh said at a media briefing.
President Kovind will embark his journey from Benin and hold talks with the country's President Patrice Talon the next day. It will be a three-day visit before he leaves for the Gambia.
In Benin, he will address the members of the Parliament. After which, President of Benin will host a banquet for him. He will also meet Indian diaspora at a reception.
President Kovind will also meet members of the Indian community at a reception hosted in his honour in Cotonou on July 30 before departing for The Gambia, the statement said.
During his visit to The Gambia, Kovind will hold delegation-level talks with Gambian President Adama Barrow in capital Banjul July 31.
As a special gesture, The Gambia's National Assembly, which is currently in recess, will hold a special session for the address of the president on the same day.
The National Assembly Building Complex in Banjul is one of the prominent projects in West Africa built under Line of Credit extended by India.
Kovind will also attend an event by the Indian community and inaugurate an exhibition on Mahatma Gandhi and Khadi on August 1.
He will reach Guinea on August 2. It will be his last destination in the three nations visit to Western Africa. Other elements of his programme in Conakry, Guinea, include attending a state banquet hosted in his honour on August 2 and an interaction with the Indian community at a reception on August 3.
Emphasising on India's outreach to African countries, Press Secretary of President Kovind Ashok Malik said this will be his fourth state-level visit to Africa.
Kovind will be accompanied by Pratap Chandra Sarangi, Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises/Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, and Member of Parliament Dilip Ghosh.
This will be the 10th state-level visit of President Kovind and the first in the third year of his Presidency. In comparison to former President Mukherjee's 24 official foreign visits, President Kovind had already taken 20 official foreign visits in the first two years of his presidency.
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