PM Modi arrives in Argentina on two-day visit
Buenos Aires (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi has arrived here on a two-day visit during which he will hold talks with the country's top leadership to review ongoing cooperation and discuss ways to enhance bilateral partnership in key areas.
Modi, who reached here on Friday evening (local time), was accorded a ceremonial welcome upon his arrival at the Ezeiza International Airport.
"Landed in Buenos Aires for a bilateral visit which will focus on augmenting relations with Argentina. I’m eager to be meeting President Javier Milei and holding detailed talks with him," he said in a post on X.
This is the first Indian bilateral visit at the prime ministerial level to Argentina in 57 years. It is Modi's second visit to the country as prime minister; he had visited in 2018 for the G20 Summit.
It also marks the third stop on the prime minister’s five-nation visit.
"Celebrating the enduring friendship between our nations. PM @narendramodi has landed in the vibrant city of Buenos Aires, Argentina on an Official Visit. He was accorded a ceremonial welcome on arrival at the airport. This is the first bilateral visit by an Indian PM to Argentina in 57 years, marking a new chapter in India-Argentina ties," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on X.
During his visit, Modi will hold wide-ranging talks with President Milei to further boost India-Argentina partnership in key areas including defence, agriculture, mining, oil and gas, renewable energy, trade and investment, according to the MEA.
"The bilateral visit of the prime minister will further deepen the multifaceted strategic partnership between India and Argentina," it said in a statement.
In his departure statement, the prime minister said that Argentina is a key economic partner in Latin America and a close collaborator in the G20 and that he looked forward to discussions with President Javier Milei, whom he had met last year.
"We will focus on advancing our mutually beneficial cooperation, including in the areas of agriculture, critical minerals, energy, trade, tourism, technology, and investment," Modi had said.
He reached here after concluding his two-day visit to Trinidad and Tobago, during which the two countries inked six agreements to expand bilateral ties.
The prime minister was conferred with 'The Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago’, becoming the first foreign leader to receive the Caribbean country's highest civilian honour.
In the fourth leg of his visit, Modi will travel to Brazil to attend the 17th BRICS Summit, followed by a state visit. In the final leg of his visit, Modi will travel to Namibia.
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NATO, others turn down US call for help in Hormuz: Trump
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump on Tuesday said NATO and most of US' other allies have rejected his calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz as the war with Iran entered the third week.
In a social media post, Trump asserted that Iran’s military has been “decimated” and he no longer felt the need for assistance from NATO countries or anyone else.
Last week, Trump had sought help from European nations and others who depend on oil supplies transiting from the Hormuz Strait to safeguard the critical waterway.
“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO “Allies” that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon,” the US President said in a post on Truth Social.
Iran's attacks on Gulf nations and its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported, have sparked increasing concerns of a global energy crisis and are unnerving the world economy.
“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one-way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” Trump said.
He said Australia, Japan and South Korea too have turned down his call for help.
“Fortunately, we have decimated Iran’s Military – Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti-Aircraft and Radar is gone and perhaps, most importantly, their Leaders, at virtually every level, are gone, never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern Allies, or the World, again,” Trump said.
He said that given the scale of recent military successes, the US no longer "need" or desires assistance from NATO countries, adding that it never relied on such support in the first place.
Speaking as President of the United States, the "most powerful" country in the world, "we do not need" help from anyone, Trump said.
The West Asia conflict began on February 28 when the US-Israeli combine conducted airstrikes on Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has effectively been shut following the US and Israel attack on Iran and Tehran's sweeping retaliation.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said that from Tehran's "perspective", the strait is "open". "It is only closed to Iran's enemies, to those who carried out unjust aggression against our country and to their allies.”
Earlier in the day, a second Indian-flagged LPG tanker, Nanda Devi, reached the country after safely sailing from the war-hit Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, the first ship, Shivalik, reached Mundra port in Gujarat.
As of now, 22 Indian vessels remain on the west side and two on the east side of the strait.
Indian authorities are in constant touch with all the relevant stakeholders in the region to secure the safe passage of the remaining ships, officials said.
