Modi in Hannover, meets German CEOs

Prime Minister Narendra Modi got down to business, meeting top German CEOs, immediately after his arrival in Hannover on Sunday as part of his two-day visit to Germany.

Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was also part of the round-table with the CEOs.

"Movers & shakers of German economy/industry meet with PM @narendramodi," tweeted the external affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin.

"Business is first in order of priority. PM @narendramodi assisted by @CimGOI engages with German business leaders," he tweeted with a photograph of the meeting.

Modi arrived to an enthusiastic welcome from Indians, many of them students, at the airport and outside his Maritim Grand Hotel here.

Earlier, he was received at the Hannover airport by German envoy to India Michael Steiner.

Economic cooperation, especially his 'Make in India' initiative, is high on Modi's agenda.

Modi, along with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, will on Monday inaugurate the India Pavilion at the world's biggest industrial fair, the Hannover Messe.

India is partner country this year at the fair, the largest in the world.

Modi will also visit the Hannover City Hall where he is to unveil a bust of Mahatma Gandhi.

His last programme of the day will be a banquet hosted in his honour by Merkel.

On Monday, the prime minister will also attend an Indo-German business summit.

Later, he will leave for Berlin where he will visit a science and technology academy as well as a German railway station to take stock of railway modernisation.