Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu as the former emplanes for New Delhi after concluding his visit to Israel.
| Photo Credit: PTI
The government has spent around ₹557.51 crore between 2021 and July 2026 on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign visits, the Ministry of External Affairs stated in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday (August 6, 2027). Responding to a question from V. Sivadasan of the CPI(M), Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita said Mr. Modi visited 77 countries during this period and that these visits and subsequent Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) helped in international partnerships “across the sectors”.
The 35-page response among other details mentioned that this year for the February 25-26 Israel visit by Prime Minister Modi, the government spent around ₹11.92 crore. Similarly, for the visit of France and Slovak Republic of May 15-20, 2026, the government spent around ₹4.77 crore and for Mr. Modi’s Seychelles visit of June 27-29, 2026, the government spent around ₹8.22 crore.
For Mr. Modi’s joint France and U.S. visit of February 10-13, 2025, the government spent ₹25.59 crore and ₹16.54 crore were spent respectively.
The government also informed the Parliament that 316 MoUs were signed with various countries during this period and mentioned that overall FDI inflow during this time was $381.8 billion. The answer further reveals that out of 316 MoUs, 44 were signed with the UAE, 33 were signed with France, 16 with Israel and eight with the U.S. MP Sivanandan pointed out that among the agreements with Israel are those relating to cooperation with the Israel Security Service and the implementation for UPI on the MASAV platform. Dr. Sivadasan has alleged that “the agreements with the United States largely serve American strategic and economic interests”.
“The success of a foreign visit should not be measured by the number of countries visited or the number of MoUs signed. It must be assessed on the basis of tangible outcomes such as projects implemented, investments secured, jobs created and the extent to which India’s international standing has been strengthened,” said Dr. Sivadasan.
Published – August 07, 2026 02:09 am IST
