PM Modi calls off visit to Croatia, Norway and the Netherlands

The visit to the three countries was planned during May 13-17 but had not been formally announced so far by any of the countries.

Published on: May 7, 2025, 13:12:38 IST

By Rezaul H Laskar

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called off a planned visit to Croatia, Norway and the Netherlands next week following India’s military strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (Photo from X)

The visit to the three countries was planned during May 13-17 but had not been formally announced so far by any of the countries. He was set to co-chair the third India-Nordic Summit in Norway, the centre-piece of the visit.

The people said on condition of anonymity that New Delhi had informed the capitals of the three countries about the visit being called off after India’s military strikes on terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) early on Wednesday morning.

Called ‘Operation Sindoor’, the strikes on nine sites in Pakistan and PoK were carried out in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack of April 22 that killed 26 men, mostly tourists, making it the worst such attack on civilians since the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

The India-Nordic Summit brings together the leaders of India, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland. The first summit was held in Sweden in 2018 and the second in Denmark in 2022.

The visits to Croatia and the Netherlands were aimed at bolstering cooperation in areas ranging from trade to the green economy.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rezaul H Laskar
Rezaul Hasan Laskar is Foreign Editor with the Hindustan Times, which he joined in 2015. He began as a journalist in his hometown of Shillong in northeast India and has worked in newspapers and wire services over the years. He moved to New Delhi in 1997 and initially focused on defence, national security, Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast, while also working of foreign policy and international relations. He has been part of the media delegation accompanying PMs on foreign visits and has reported from destinations ranging from Tibet to Ukraine. Between 2007 and 2013, he was the Press Trust of India correspondent in Pakistan, one of only two Indian journalists allowed to report from the country. He extensively covered Pakistan’s domestic politics and the life of the common people, as well as the fallout of the 2008 Mumbai attacks on India-Pakistan relations and the subsequent trial in Pakistan of the suspects involved in the attack. As part of his reportage in Pakistan, he travelled the breadth of the country, from the Swat Valley to Balochistan. Reza’s first gig in journalism was writing a weekly music column, and music – especially classic rock – remains a keen interest. He is also a movie buff and a keen photographer.Read More

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