NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Afghanistan this week on his way to the US where he is scheduled to address a joint session of the Congress on June 8, NDTV said on Sunday

The news channel quoted sources as saying that Mr Modi will first go to Afghanistan on June 4, where he will inaugurate the Salma Dam in Herat that has been funded by India.

After that, he will head for Qatar on June 5 for a bilateral visit. He will hold talks with Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, where economic ties, especially about the hydrocarbon sector, will be high on the agenda, NDTV said.

He will stop in Switzerland en route to his meeting with President Barack Obama in Washington. The Switzerland visit is being worked out for June 6. There, NDTV said, he could raise the black money issue with Swiss authorities — one of the key election promises of his Bharatiya Janata Party.

In the US, Mr Modi is set to have bilateral meetings on June 7 and June 8. He will be addressing a joint session of the US Congress on June 8.

He is then expected to visit Mexico before returning home on June 10.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2016