PM Modi meets Portuguese counterpart Antonio Costa as he kicks-off first leg of three-nation tour

Lisbon: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday met his Portuguese counterpart Antonio Costa here on the first leg of his three-nation tour which will also take him to the United States and the Netherlands.

PM Modi was received by Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva at the airport. This is the first ever bilateral visit by an Indian prime minister to the European nation.

The two leaders were expected to review the progress of various joint initiatives and decisions.

Modi`s visit follows his Portuguese counterpart Antonio Costa, who traces his origin to Goa, to India in January this year.

"I will pay a working visit to Portugal on 24 June 2017," Modi said in a pre-departure statement.

"Our close historical and friendly ties have picked up momentum after Prime Minister Antonio Costa`s visit to India in January 2017," he said, adding that building on the recent discussions, both sides would review the progress of various joint initiatives and decisions.

"We will also discuss ways to further enhance the bilateral engagement, especially in the areas of economic cooperation, science and technology, space collaboration and people-to-people ties.

"We will deliberate on means to intensify our cooperation in counter-terrorism and on other international issues of mutual interest. I also see significant potential for deepening bilateral trade and investment ties," he added.

The Prime Minister also said that he was looking forward to interacting with the Indian diaspora there.

Later on Saturday, Modi will lead delegation-level talks with Costa before the signing of agreements and launch of the India-Portugal Start-up Hub.

PM Modi will then head to the United States later tonight where he would hold a series of meetings with President Donald Trump.

In October 2005, Portugal extradited terror accused Abu Salem and Monica Bedi to India - in the first extradition from any European nation to India.

In October 2015, Portugal became the first European and Western country, and only the fourth outside the East Asia Summit, to sign an MoU on the establishment of the Nalanda University in India.

"Ola Portugal. PM @narendramodi arrives in Lisbon, departing from protocol Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva receives the Prime Minister," MEA spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted along with some photographs.

Portuguese PM tweeted this is an excellent opportunity to review the implementation of the accords agreed during his India visit and sign new agreements.

The highlight of Modi's four-day three-nation visit will be the US leg as Modi will be meeting President Donald Trump for the first time on June 26 in Washington.

Ahead of his US visit, Modi said he looked forward to the opportunity of having an in-depth exchange of views.

"My USA visit is aimed at deepening ties between our nations. Strong India-USA ties benefit our nations & the world," he had tweeted.

#WATCH: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa interact at Necessidades Palace in Portugal's Lisbon. pic.twitter.com/TpUfk7iDFJ

— ANI (@ANI_news) June 24, 2017