PM's foreign visits will rebuild ties: Sushma

The opposition has been criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his overseas visits but External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj Thursday said the trips will "rebuild" India's ties with the world.

"In the past six months, we have moved with speed and resolve, rarely seen in Indian external engagement, to rebuild our partnerships across the world. We have set new milestones and reached new frontiers in India's foreign policy. The global response has been just as unparalleled," Sushma Swaraj said in the Rajya Sabha.

The minister informed the house that since the last session, the prime minister has visited Japan, the US, Myanmar, Australia, Fiji and Nepal, besides participating in the UN General Assembly.

She also mentioned the visits of Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Chinese President Xi Jinping to India.

"During the course of these few months, the prime minister has met around 45 international leaders from every inhabited continent of the world. He has participated in the India-ASEAN Summit, the East Asia Summit, the G-20 Summit and the Saarc Summit, each of which is crucial to the future of our region, Asia and the world," she said.

"Despite our shared democratic values with Australia and her enormous potential to become a vital strategic and economic partner for India, it took 28 years for the prime minister of India to visit Australia.

"Although Fiji is an influential country in the Pacific region and 37 percent of its population is of Indian origin, his visit to Fiji was the first by an Indian prime minister in 33 years," Sushma Swaraj added.