PM Modi May Avoid India-EU Summit, France Visit Amid Covid Spike: Sources

The India-EU summit is scheduled for May 8 in Porto, the second-largest city of Portugal.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is unlikely to attend in person the 16th annual India-European Union summit in Portugal next month in the wake of a raging Covid-19 crisis at home. He may also avoid the scheduled bilateral visit to France in May, government sources have said. The India-EU summit is scheduled for May 8 in Porto, the second-largest city of Portugal. PM Modi may make an appearance via videoconferencing, a source from the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the European Union told Publico, a Portuguese language daily. "The Porto summit, which must now be mainly cyberspace, is one of the priorities of the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the EU, at a time when Europe is looking for alternatives to China," the newspaper said in a report yesterday. The 15th India-EU summit took place virtually amidst the Covid pandemic last July. Speaking at the event, PM Modi sought an "action-oriented" agenda to expand ties between India and the 27-nation EU within a stipulated time frame.