Indian-origin man travels 400 km to say 'hello' to Narendra Modi during his Argentina visit

Vijay Kumar Gupta travelled from Rosario to Buenos Aires to greet the visiting Indian leader.

“I came all the way just to say hello to PM Modi. And I was lucky enough to shake his hand," he told ANI news agency.

Meanwhile,  Modi met the President of Argentina Javier Milei on Sunday when  they held extensive discussions and reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral relations.

He was warmly received by President Milei when he arrived at Casa Rosada.

On arrival in Buenos Aires yesterday, Prime Minister was accorded a ceremonial welcome.

The visit assumes significance as it happens to be the first bilateral visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Argentina after a gap of 57 years.

This is a seminal year for India-Argentina ties as the two countries celebrate 75 years of the establishment of diplomatic ties.

Prime Minister Modi thanked President Milei for the gracious hospitality extended to him and his delegation.

The two leaders met in restricted and delegation level formats.

During the meeting, they called for enhancing cooperation in the fields of critical minerals, oil & gas, defence, nuclear energy, agriculture, science & technology, use of drones in agriculture, fisheries & monitoring of power transmission lines, ICT, Digital Public Infrastructure, UPI, space, railways, pharma, sports and people-to-people ties.

The leaders took stock of the ongoing economic collaboration.

Prime Minister Modi noted that while bilateral trade was on a stable trajectory, the two sides needed to work on the diversification of the trade basket to harness the full potential of commercial engagement.

In this context, they also discussed expansion of India-MERCOSUR Preferential Trade Agreement.

Prime Minister thanked President Milei for the strong condemnation of the barbaric terrorist attack in Pahalgam and appreciated Argentina’s solidarity for India in its fight against terrorism.

The two leaders agreed that terrorism poses a grave threat to humanity and reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen the global fight against the menace.

The leaders agreed to continue working closely to strengthen the strategic partnership. They called for giving greater voice to the concerns of the Global South.

Prime Minister, prior to concluding his visit, paid floral tribute at the busts of Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore in Buenos Aires.

President Milei thanked Prime Minister for his historic visit to Argentina. Prime Minister invited President Milei to visit India at a mutually convenient time.

During his stay in Argentina, Modi was also conferred with the Key to the City of Buenos Aires by Jorge Macri, Chief of the City Government of Buenos Aires.