Three-nation tour: Modi leaves for Washington to attend Nuclear Security Summit

Brussels: Wrapping up his Belgium visit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tonight left for Washington where he will attend the Nuclear Security Summit as part of his three-nation tour.

Spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs Vikas Swarup tweeted that the Prime Minister is on his way to Washington.

Thank you Brussels! An intense day of diplomacy ends as PM @narendramodi emplanes for Washington DC pic.twitter.com/jCibJxWQ9M

— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) March 30, 2016

Modi will attend the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington today and tomorrow and from there he will travel to Saudi Arabia on a two-day visit with a focus on boosting energy and security cooperation.

The fear that nuclear materials may fall into the hands of Islamic State or other terrorist groups will be the focus of the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, involving more than 50 countries with the exception of Russia.

The event was started in 2010 at the initiative of US President Barack Obama.

Last week’s terror attacks in Brussels have given further impetus to efforts to safeguard stockpiles of nuclear material.

The summit will begin on Thursday evening with a working dinner at the White House where Obama and the heads of the respective national delegations “will share their perspectives about the threat of nuclear terrorism,” Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said.

Along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, French President François Hollande, Britain’s David Cameron, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Ukraine’s Petro Poroshenko, and the president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev will also attend the event.

In Brussels, Modi attended the 13th India-EU Summit and held bilateral talks with his Belgian counterpart Charles Michel.

With inputs from agencies