Visit of Minister of State for External Affairs, Shri V. Muraleedharan to Nigeria (August 22-23, 2022) During the visit to Abuja, MoS will pay a courtesy call on Muhammad Buhari, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria NEW DELHI, India, August 18, 2022/APO Group/ -- Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs, Shri V. Muraleedharan will pay an official visit to the Federal Republic of Nigeria (22-23 August 2022). During the visit to Abuja, MoS will pay a courtesy call on Muhammad Buhari, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He will also meet Geoffrey Onyeama, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria and Maj. Gen. Bashir Magashi (Rtd), Minister of Defence of Nigeria. In addition, MoS will interact and address a cross-section of members of Indian diaspora. During the visit, MoS will also address the Nigeria-India Business Council (NIBC) meeting together with Yemi Osinbajo, Vice-President of Nigeria. NIBC was formally launched by Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama during his visit to India in April 2022 for the Raisina Dialogue 2022. India-Nigeria have always enjoyed close and friendly relations which are deep-rooted and multifaceted. The bilateral trade has been growing steadily and registered a record US$ 14.95 billion in 2021-22. During the COVID-19 pandemic, both countries have maintained close contacts and supported each other in their fight against the pandemic. MoS’s visit will further the momentum of high level exchanges and stengthen cooperation with Nigeria, bilaterally and in the multilateral fora. MoS had earlier visited Nigeria in June 2019 to participate in the celebrations of Democracy Day hosted by Nigeria. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of External Affairs - Government of India.