PM Modi leaves for Tanzania after concluding 'fruitful' visit to South Africa

Concluding his two-day "fruitful" visit to South Africa, Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for Tanzania on Saturday evening.

The Prime Minister will land at Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam, the largest city of Tanzania as well as a regionally important economic centre.

"Thank you South Africa! A visit filled with the presence of the past & the promise of the future ends as PM departs," tweeted Vikas Swarup, spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs.

"It's been a satisfying South Africa visit, where I have been able to attend such a wide variety of programmes & interact with so many people. This South Africa visit has been a 'Tirth Yatra' for me. Got an opportunity to visit places so closely associated with Mahatma Gandhi. My gratitude to the people & Government of South Africa for extending a warm welcome & the memorable hospitality during my stay here," tweeted Prime Minister Modi before leaving Durban.

In Tanzania, the Prime Minister will have meetings with President John Pombe Joseph Magufuli to further enhance mutual cooperation and understanding on major issues of common interest.

While briefing the media in New Delhi earlier on July 4, before the Prime Minister's departure on the four-nation tour, MEA Secretary (Economic Relations) Amar Sinha said: "On Sunday, we are reaching Tanzania. So, every hour there is a new programme. So you will have to carefully go through this.

"Of course we are very grateful that Tanzania actually accepted an official visit on a Sunday which is a great gesture because nobody accepts a state visit on a Sunday. Tanzania was not only happy but in fact they were the first off the mark in terms that they immediately said that they would definitely want it and they would not want Indian Prime Minister to just fly over them between Durban and Nairobi. So we have decided that we will stop there and the whole Sunday would be spent there. There are the same elements on the official part. I can tell you what else he is doing there besides the official engagements. He is meeting the Indian community."

Taking about 'Solar Mamas' training programme, Sinha said: "Solar Mamas are these grandmothers from villages who are brought by Barefoot College. He will also be meeting a group of 40 or so of Solar Mamas from different parts of Africa, which Barefoot College has trained. We are also actually funding setting up of one of the Barefoot College centres in Tanzania.

"So, that we thought was a good opportunity for PM to actually see because this connects with our new Solar Alliance, that we already have a cadre of well trained people even at the village level, who are solar technicians, who have already been electrifying villages. So this will actually plug in with the overall initiative in Solar Alliance."

Talking about his Tanzania visit, Prime Minister Modi said, "On Sunday 10th July, I will be in Tanzania for a brief but crucial visit to give an impetus to ties with Tanzania, a valued friend in Africa.

"There will be extensive talks with President Dr. John Magufuli, where we will chalk out the road ahead for bettering India-Tanzania relations in a wide range of areas. I will also be meeting 'Solar Mamas', a group of rural women solar engineers from Africa, who have been trained under GOI-supported programmes to fabricate, install, use, repair and maintain solar lanterns and household solar lighting systems in their villages," the Prime Minister said hours before embarking on a four-nation tour to the African continent.