PM Narendra Modi likely to visit Turkmenistan in July

ASHGABAT: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit resource-rich Turkmenistan on July 11, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said here today.

Swaraj talked about Prime Minister's visit after calling on Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov.

"We are looking forward to our Prime Minister's visit to Turkmenistan which has been proposed for July 11," she said and expressed hope that several projects the two sides have discussed in the past would take shape during the Prime Minister's visit to the Central Asian nation.

Prime Minister Modi is expected to visit other countries in the region as well around that time for which details are being worked out, sources said.

Plans are afoot to set up a fertilizer plant here jointly among other projects, they said.

An Indian delegation is currently in Turkmenistan to explore possibilities of setting up the plant.

Swaraj, who arrived here yesterday for a three-day visit to co-chair the fifth India-Turkmenistan Inter-Governmental Joint Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation with her Turkmen counterpart Rashid Meredov, met Berdymuhamedov at the Presidential palace here.