Raila meets PM Modi during India visit, pledges to further nations’ interest

ODM leader Raila Odinga with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi, India on February 13, 2022. [Courtesy]

ODM leader Raila Odinga on Sunday met India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed issues of mutual interest between the two nations.

PM Modi took to his official Twitter handle to express his happiness for being able to meet Raila after almost three and half years. 

“Delighted to receive my friend Raila, former Prime Minister of Kenya. I fondly recollect my past interactions with him in India and Kenya,” said Modi.

Raila said they had a warm discussion with PM Modi on the two countries’ ties such as education and trade, adding that their aim is to strengthen the bond.

“Delighted to have had warm discussions with PM Modi. Our nations share a fond bond as many Kenyans have for decades attended universities here. I hope that we shall strengthen ties and learn more from each other in the years ahead,” tweeted Raila.

The two leaders share friendly personal relations going back decades.

Modi recollected his multiple interactions with Odinga since 2008 in both India and Kenya, as well as the latter's support for the Vibrant Gujarat Summit in 2009 and 2012.

The two leaders also discussed other issues of mutual interest with Modi pledging to further strengthen India-Kenya relations.

Raila who is in India on a private trip also visited Kerala's Ayurvedic hospital, the facility which helped his daughter to regain her eyesight in 2019.

Raila's daughter Rosemary was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2017. She lost her eyesight after surgery in Nairobi, prompting her family to take her to Kerala where her eyesight was restored.