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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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
