Modi’s six-day visit starts in the United Arab Emirates before continuing to the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Italy, with New Delhi seeking to secure energy supplies and deepen economic ties with Europe following the India-European Union free trade agreement finalized in January.

The trip comes as disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf maritime corridors continue to pressure energy-importing economies. India, the world’s third-largest oil buyer, typically sources nearly half of its crude imports through the strategic waterway.

India’s foreign ministry said discussions in the UAE would focus on “strengthening our energy security,” including cooperation on oil and liquefied petroleum gas supplies. The Gulf nation hosts an Indian diaspora estimated at 4.5 million people and remains one of New Delhi’s key energy partners.

Analysts said the visit reflects India’s broader push to diversify strategic partnerships while positioning itself as an alternative manufacturing and technology hub amid shifting geopolitical alignments and supply-chain realignments away from China.

“The recently concluded India-EU free trade agreement has already created momentum,” former Indian ambassador Anil Wadhwa told AFP, adding that India was seeking to position itself as a “trusted economic, technological and clean energy partner.”The European leg of the tour will focus heavily on trade and investment cooperation.

Modi is scheduled to meet Dutch leaders later on Friday for talks expected to cover bilateral trade, defense cooperation, semiconductors, water management, agriculture and healthcare.India and the EU concluded a landmark free trade agreement in January, which Modi described as the “mother of all deals.” European policymakers increasingly view India, the world’s most populous country, as a critical market and strategic counterweight in Asia.

In Sweden, Modi will attend a European business leaders forum alongside Ursula von der Leyen before traveling to Oslo for an India-Nordic summit, marking the first visit by an Indian prime minister to Norway in more than four decades.

Former Indian ambassador K.C. Singh said the Gulf leg of the visit also reflected changing regional alignments following escalating Middle East tensions.“A new international environment now prevails,” Singh told AFP, citing fractures within the Gulf Cooperation Council and growing strategic competition involving Iran, Gulf states, the United States and Israel.

Modi also met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in New Delhi on Thursday ahead of the trip, underlining India’s effort to maintain diplomatic engagement across rival regional blocs.Energy analysts said New Delhi could pursue agreements linked to strategic petroleum reserves and long-term LPG supply arrangements to reduce vulnerability to price shocks and shipping disruptions.

The Nordic portion of the tour is also expected to include discussions on Arctic cooperation and climate-linked shipping routes. India operates a research station on Norway’s Svalbard archipelago and has increasingly monitored the commercial and environmental implications of melting polar sea ice.

Indian lawmaker Shashi Tharoor wrote in the Indian Express that India and Nordic nations shared interests in preserving international stability “at a time when the turbulence of the Trumpian era has unsettled global norms.”

The final stop of Modi’s tour will be Italy on May 19, where he is expected to meet Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for talks on bilateral cooperation and regional security issues.

An EU spokesperson said the proposed meeting was being organized at the request of several member states seeking cooperation on deportation procedures for Afghan migrants whose asylum claims have been rejected or who are considered security risks under European law.

No date has been finalized for the talks, the spokesperson said, stressing that the meeting would not constitute formal diplomatic recognition of the Taliban government.

Western governments have largely avoided official engagement with the Taliban since the Islamist movement seized control of Afghanistan in 2021 following the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces and the collapse of the Western-backed Afghan administration.

Despite the lack of formal recognition, European officials have gradually expanded technical contacts with Taliban authorities on issues including migration, humanitarian assistance and airport operations.

The EU spokesperson said officials from the bloc had already traveled to Kabul in January for preliminary discussions and were now considering a follow-up technical meeting in Brussels with what the EU described as Afghanistan’s “de facto authorities.”

Hundreds of thousands of Afghans have sought asylum across Europe since the Taliban takeover, creating political pressure on European governments facing rising anti-immigration sentiment and strained asylum systems.

European countries have struggled to deport Afghan nationals because diplomatic relations with Kabul remain limited and there are few formal mechanisms for coordinating returns.

The spokesperson said Sweden was assisting in coordinating the planned discussions. Swedish authorities did not immediately comment on the initiative.

The move highlights the increasingly pragmatic approach adopted by some European governments toward the Taliban administration, despite continuing concerns over human rights restrictions, particularly those affecting women and girls in Afghanistan.

Addressing troops and military hardware assembled on Moscow’s Red Square for commemorations marking the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, Putin linked Russia’s ongoing military campaign in Ukraine to what the Kremlin has repeatedly described as a struggle against Western influence and military expansion.

“The great feat of the generation of victors inspires the soldiers carrying out the goals of the special military operation today,” Putin said, using Moscow’s official terminology for the war in Ukraine.“They are confronting an aggressive force armed and supported by the entire NATO bloc.

And despite this, our heroes move forward,” he added.Putin also said he believed Russia’s military campaign was justified, declaring: “I firmly believe that our cause is just.”The remarks came during Russia’s annual Victory Day celebrations, one of the country’s most important patriotic events, which the Kremlin has increasingly used to rally domestic support for the war in Ukraine since the conflict began in February 2022.

Russia has repeatedly accused NATO and Western governments of escalating the conflict through military assistance, intelligence sharing and weapons deliveries to Ukraine. NATO members have said their support is aimed at helping Ukraine defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity against Russia’s invasion.

The war has reshaped European security dynamics, prompting increased defense spending across NATO states and the expansion of the alliance with the accession of Finland and Sweden.

Victory Day ceremonies in Moscow have taken on heightened political significance since the start of the conflict, with Russian authorities portraying the war as part of a historic struggle against external threats and Western pressure.

The Swedish Coast Guard boarded the 182-meter vessel Jin Hui on Sunday amid suspicions it was operating under a falsified Syrian flag, in what officials described as part of ongoing enforcement actions targeting ships believed to be circumventing Western sanctions on Russia.

The Swedish Prosecution Authority said the captain was detained on suspicion of using forged documents and breaching maritime safety regulations, specifically relating to inadequate seaworthiness. Prosecutor Adrien Combier-Hogg said the individual would be interrogated during the day, adding that coordination had been initiated with other national and international authorities.

Sweden’s Civil Defense Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin said the vessel appears on sanctions lists maintained by the European Union, Britain and Ukraine, underscoring concerns that it may be linked to networks used to bypass restrictions imposed on Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine.

Western officials have increasingly focused on what they describe as a “shadow fleet” of aging, poorly insured vessels with opaque ownership structures, used to transport Russian oil and other commodities outside formal regulatory frameworks. These ships have raised safety and environmental concerns due to their condition and lack of oversight.

Sweden has conducted several recent boardings of vessels in its surrounding waters as part of broader efforts to enforce sanctions compliance and maritime safety standards in the Baltic region.

Kristersson told a news conference Floderus, who was arrested in Iran 2022, was arbitrarily detained.

Iran on Sunday said it had begun a trial of the Swedish national, charged with spying for Israel and “corruption on earth,” a crime that carries the death penalty.

Speaking with reporters on a flight from Athens late on Thursday, Erdogan said the United States agreed with Canada on the issue, but that Sweden’s NATO bid was to be decided by Turkey’s parliament, after he sent the bill there for consideration in late October.

When Erdogan signalled at a NATO conference in July that Sweden would eventually get the green light, NATO member Canada quietly agreed to re-open talks with Turkey on lifting export controls on drone parts, including optical equipment, Reuters reported.

“On the issue of drone cameras we wanted from them, Canada is insisting: Sweden, Sweden. The U.S. is repeating the same thing,” Erdogan said.

Turkey, a NATO member, asked in October 2021 to buy 40 Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) F-16 fighters and 79 modernisation kits for its existing warplanes.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration backs the $20-billion sale, but there have been objections in the U.S. Congress over Turkey’s delaying of NATO enlargement to bring in Sweden, and over its human rights record.

“If you have your Congress, I have my parliament. You say you will take a step in the F-16 issue after passing through Congress. I also have a parliament,” Erdogan said.

“If we are two NATO allies, then do what you have to simultaneously, in solidarity, and our parliament will take the necessary decision.”

The Canadian embassy did not immediately comment on the matter.

Last week, the Turkish parliament’s foreign affairs commission delayed a vote on Sweden’s NATO membership bid in order to hold further talks on the subject.

The commission will likely resume its debate on the matter on Tuesday or Wednesday, one of the sources said. NATO foreign ministers will meet in Brussels on those days, Nov. 28-29, a gathering that some in the Western defence bloc had hoped would mark Sweden’s accession.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry was not immediately available for comment.

Both Sweden and Finland had requested to join NATO in May last year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

President Tayyip Erdogan raised objections at the time to both requests over what he said was the Nordic nations’ protection of those who Turkey deems terrorists, as well as their defence trade embargoes. Turkey endorsed Finland’s bid in April, but has kept Sweden waiting.

Turkey has demanded that Sweden take more steps to rein in local members of the Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK), which is considered a terrorist group by the European Union and the United States.

In response, Stockholm introduced an anti-terrorism bill that makes membership of a terrorist organisation illegal, while also lifting arms export restrictions on Turkey. It says it has upheld its part of a deal signed last year.

For ratification, the bill needs to be approved by the Turkish foreign affairs commission before being put to a full parliament vote, which could come days or weeks later. Erdogan would then sign it into law to conclude the process, the length of which has frustrated Ankara’s allies and tested its Western ties.

While NATO member Hungary also has not ratified Sweden’s membership, Turkey is seen as the main roadblock to Sweden’s accession.

Last week, the Turkish parliament’s foreign affairs commission delayed a vote on Sweden’s NATO membership bid in order to hold further talks on the subject.

The commission will likely resume its debate on the matter on Tuesday or Wednesday, one of the sources said. NATO foreign ministers will meet in Brussels on those days, Nov. 28-29, a gathering that some in the Western defence bloc had hoped would mark Sweden’s accession.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry was not immediately available for comment.

Both Sweden and Finland had requested to join NATO in May last year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

President Tayyip Erdogan raised objections at the time to both requests over what he said was the Nordic nations’ protection of those who Turkey deems terrorists, as well as their defence trade embargoes. Turkey endorsed Finland’s bid in April, but has kept Sweden waiting.

Turkey has demanded that Sweden take more steps to rein in local members of the Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK), which is considered a terrorist group by the European Union and the United States.

In response, Stockholm introduced an anti-terrorism bill that makes membership of a terrorist organisation illegal, while also lifting arms export restrictions on Turkey. It says it has upheld its part of a deal signed last year.

For ratification, the bill needs to be approved by the Turkish foreign affairs commission before being put to a full parliament vote, which could come days or weeks later. Erdogan would then sign it into law to conclude the process, the length of which has frustrated Ankara’s allies and tested its Western ties.

While NATO member Hungary also has not ratified Sweden’s membership, Turkey is seen as the main roadblock to Sweden’s accession.

Erdogan submitted a bill approving Sweden’s NATO membership bid to parliament for ratification last month, a move welcomed by the alliance and Stockholm. Turkey had initially raised objections due to what it said was Sweden’s harbouring of groups it deems terrorist.

Speaking to reporters on a return flight from Kazakhstan on Friday, Erdogan said Stockholm had taken some steps regarding protests organised by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and also concerning arms embargoes on Turkey, but not on the activities of the PKK in Sweden.

“Our duty was to submit this to parliament in the first stage, we did that,” broadcaster Haberturk quoted him on Saturday as having told the reporters on his plane.

Erdogan also said planned talks in parliament about Turkey’s 2024 state budget would now take priority, suggesting that the approval of Sweden’s NATO membership might not be rapid.

“But we will try to facilitate the work (on ratifying Sweden’s NATO bid) as much as possible. We will try to show positive efforts as much as we can at this point, so long as our counterparts approach us positively.”

The bill must be approved by parliament’s foreign affairs committee before a vote by the full general assembly. Erdogan would then sign it into law.

Long-neutral Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO last year to bolster their security after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Finland’s membership was sealed in April, but Sweden’s bid had been held up by Turkey and Hungary.

President Tayyip Erdogan submitted the ratification bill for Sweden’s NATO membership bid to parliament last month, a move welcomed by Stockholm as it would clear the way for it to join the Western defence alliance.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said he wants a “speedy vote” by Turkey’s parliament and that the process was “going well”. But parliament’s foreign affairs committee chair Fuat Oktay said Turkey was in no hurry.

“Sweden’s NATO membership is just one of the international agreements on our agenda waiting for ratification,” Oktay told a meeting of lawmakers. “We will discuss it when the time comes … within the framework of our own priorities… What is urgent for others is not necessarily urgent for (us).”

The Sweden NATO membership bill must be approved by the committee before a vote by the full parliament, at which point Erdogan would sign it into law.

Long-neutral Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO last year to bolster their security after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Finland’s membership was sealed in April, but Sweden’s bid had been held up by Turkey and Hungary.

Turkey said Sweden must first take measures against supporters of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and members of a network Ankara holds responsible for a 2016 coup attempt. Turkey treats both groups as terrorist organisations.

Sweden approved a new anti-terrorism law in July.

Sweden’s bid has been stranded in Hungary’s parliament since last year, with the ruling nationalists saying there is no threat to Sweden’s security and citing what they call undue Swedish allegations that they have eroded democracy in Hungary.