PM Modi with Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed Ali (ANI image)
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi was once again accorded a rare and personal diplomatic honour as he concluded his two-day visit to Ethiopia, with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali personally driving him to the airport for his departure to Oman.The farewell mirrored the warm reception PM Modi received on arrival in Addis Ababa. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had earlier personally received PM Modi at the airport and driven him to his hotel.The Ethiopia stop followed a similar display of personal warmth during PM Modi’s visit to Jordan, where Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II personally drove the Indian leader during official engagements and later bid him farewell.The rare gestures across both countries have been seen as a reflection of India’s growing diplomatic stature and the deep trust shared with key partners in West Asia and the Global South.PM Abiy Ahmed once again escorted PM Modi in his own car to Addis Ababa airport and personally bid him farewell as the Indian leader emplaned for Muscat, marking the end of the Ethiopia leg of his three-nation tour.PM Modi’s maiden bilateral visit to Ethiopia was marked by exceptional warmth and several high-level engagements. During the drive, the Ethiopian leader also took PM Modi to the Science Museum and Friendship Park, which were not part of the official itinerary and briefed him on Ethiopia’s culture, including its famed coffee traditions.India and Ethiopia agreed to elevate their relationship to a Strategic Partnership, giving new momentum to bilateral ties. PM Modi and PM Abiy Ahmed held delegation-level talks covering cooperation in areas such as economy, innovation, technology, defence, health, capacity-building and multilateral forums.“This step will provide new energy, new momentum and new depth to our ties,” PM Modi said.A major highlight of the visit was PM Modi being conferred Ethiopia’s highest civilian honour, the ‘Great Honour Nishan of Ethiopia’, for his contribution to strengthening India–Ethiopia relations. Accepting the award, PM Modi said it was a matter of pride to be honoured by an ancient and prosperous civilisation and dedicated the honour to the 1.4 billion people of India and to the historic friendship between the two countries. This marked the 28th top foreign state honour conferred on PM Modi.PM Modi also addressed a joint session of the Ethiopian Parliament, becoming the 18th parliament in the world to be addressed by him. In his address, he spoke about India’s democratic journey and highlighted the importance of the India–Ethiopia partnership for the Global South.The visit yielded several concrete outcomes, including agreements on customised cooperation, the establishment of a data centre at Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, cooperation in UN peacekeeping training, and an MoU on debt restructuring under the G20 Common Framework. Educational ties were strengthened with the doubling of ICCR scholarships for Ethiopian students and the launch of specialised short-term courses in artificial intelligence under the ITEC programme. India also agreed to help upgrade Addis Ababa’s Mahatma Gandhi Hospital, with a focus on maternal and neonatal care.From Ethiopia, PM Modi has now travelled to Oman for the final leg of his three-nation tour, where he will hold talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tarik to further strengthen the India–Oman Strategic Partnership.