By IANS,
New Delhi : Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki arrived here Thursday on a four-day state visit.
He was received by Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur at the Indira Gandhi International airport’s ceremonial lounge.
Maliki is accompanied by a high-level delegation that includes ministers, senior officials and captains of industry.
The visit is the first high-level bilateral trip in 38 years. Then Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi visited Iraq in 1975.
Maliki’s trip will see India and Iraq sign an agreement on energy cooperation. Iraq is the second largest crude supplier to India, with oil imports standing at $20 billion.
On Friday, Maliki will visit Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial and then call on President Pranab Mukherjee and Vice President Hamid Ansari.
In the afternoon, he will attend a business luncheon meeting hosted by the business houses of FICCI, CII and ASSOCHAM.
In the evening, opposition leader Sushma Swaraj will call on him, after which he will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.