PM Modi hold talks with Belgian counterpart

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Belgian counterpart Charles Michel and held talks in Brussels on Wednesday.

Prior to the meeting Modi inspected the parade at Egmont palace.

Modi earlier paid tribute to the victims of the deadly terror attacks at the Maelbeek metro station and laid a wreath at the site where a suicide bomber blew himself last Tuesday kill at least 32 people.

Accompanied by Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Didier Reyndersby and Indian officials including Minister of State, Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman, the Prime Minister paid his respects at the site of the attack.

Modi arrived in Brussels for the first leg of his three nation tour of Belgium, United States and Saudi Arabia, this morning where he will participate in the European Union-India Summit.

This is the Prime Minister Modi's first official visit to Belgium.

European Union officials said, Prime Minister Modi's decision to attend the EU-India Summit amid heightened security concerns in the region, is a welcome sign that both sides are keen to re-establish a relationship that has been languishing in recent years.

European officials hope the closed-door summit will yield a joint statement and an agenda that will serve as a roadmap for EU-India cooperation in what is referred to as Action 2020. This includes concrete priority actions for the strategic partnership between the two sides over the next five years.