As India bolsters its ties with the European Union and Europe, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday met Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever. The leaders met at Hyderabad House in the national capital. Earlier, Prime Minister De Wever paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat. He laid a wreath and offered flowers. The Belgian Prime Minister also signed the visitor’s book at Rajghat. De Wever is in India till September 4, at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a visit aimed at further strengthening bilateral ties and expanding cooperation across trade, investment, defence, technology and connectivity. De Wever, who took office in February 2025, is visiting India for the first time as Belgian Prime Minister. His visit also marks the first visit by a Belgian Prime Minister to India in two decades. He is accompanied by Belgium’s Minister of Defence and Foreign Trade, Theo Francken, along with a high-level delegation of officials and business leaders, including representatives from the Belgian defence industry.
The visit comes amid increased momentum in India-Belgium relations, following the Belgian Economic Mission to India led by Princess Astrid in March 2025, which brought together 338 participants from companies, chambers of commerce, academia and public institutions and resulted in 38 MoUs. Earlier on Thursday, Belgian’s Defence Minister Theo Francken hailed India’s technological prowess and called for deepening partnership with India at the Defence Ministers’ Bilateral Meeting here in the national capital. The presence of Belgium’s Defence and Foreign Trade Minister and representatives of Belgian defence industries during De Wever’s visit is expected to provide an opportunity to advance cooperation between the Indian and Belgian defence industrial ecosystems. De Wever’s visit is expected to build on the recent momentum in bilateral engagement and provide an opportunity to advance India-Belgium cooperation while further deepening Belgium’s role in strengthening India-EU and India-Europe engagement.
