When did an Indian Prime Minister first visit Rwanda?

According to the MEA brief of April 2026, the first State visit of an Indian Prime Minister to Rwanda took place on 23-24 July 2018, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited. Several MoUs and agreements were signed, including a Bilateral Trade Agreement and an MoU on Defence Co-operation.

What dialogue mechanisms do India and Rwanda have?

India and Rwanda have a Joint Commission Meeting at ministerial level, Foreign Office Consultations at the level of Joint Secretary or Director General, and a Joint Defence Cooperation Committee. The Second JCM was held in New Delhi in March 2026.

How many times has President Kagame visited India?

The brief states that President Paul Kagame has visited India thrice in a private capacity and twice on official visits, most recently in March 2018 for the founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance.

India and Rwanda: diplomatic relations and milestones

This article covers the political relationship between India and Rwanda: visits by leaders and ministers in both directions, the institutional mechanisms for dialogue, the agreements signed during the Prime Minister of India's State visit in 2018, and the first Track 1.5 dialogue between the two countries. It is based on the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) bilateral brief of April 2026.

Overview

According to the MEA brief of April 2026, bilateral relations between India and Rwanda have been cordial and have grown steadily over the years. The brief also records that Rwanda opted to become a member of the Commonwealth in 2009, even though it had not been a British protectorate or a British colony.

Visits from India

The first State visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Rwanda took place on 23-24 July 2018, when Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi visited. The agreements signed during that visit are listed below.

Vice President Shri M. Hamid Ansari visited Rwanda from 19-21 February 2017. He called on the President of Rwanda and met the President of the Rwandan Senate (Upper House) and the Prime Minister of Rwanda. He also inaugurated an innovators exhibition with the Prime Minister of Rwanda, addressed students of the University of Rwanda and met the Indian community at a reception hosted by the High Commissioner.

Other visits from India recorded in the brief include:

Shri Sudarshan Bhagat, Minister of State for Rural Development (July 2015), as the Prime Minister's Special Envoy to invite the President and the Foreign Minister of Rwanda to IAFS-III
Shri Anil Madhav Dave, Minister of State of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (October 2016), to take part in the 28th Meeting of the Montreal Protocol
Shri V. Muraleedharan, Minister of State, Ministry of External Affairs (13 to 16 November 2021), to co-chair the first India Rwanda Joint Commission Meeting
Dr. S. Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs (22 to 25 June 2022), to attend the Commonwealth Head of Government Meeting 2022 (CHOGM-2022)
Shri Harivansh, Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha (10 to 16 October 2022), to attend the 145th assembly of the Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU)

Visits from Rwanda

The brief states that President H.E. Paul Kagame has visited India thrice in a private capacity and twice on official visits:

December 2002, to receive an Honorary Doctorate from the Vellore Institute of Technology
January 2009, as Chief Guest at the India-Africa Business Forum organised by FICCI in New Delhi
November 2014, to take part in the India Economic Forum in New Delhi, when he met President Shri Pranab Mukherjee
January 2017, to take part in a summit held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, when he met Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on the sidelines
9-12 March 2018, to take part in the founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance in Delhi

Prime Minister Bernard Makuza took part in the same summit in Gujarat in January 2011 and called on the Prime Minister of India. From 08-11 July 2018, Mr. Bernard Makuza, President of the Senate of Rwanda, visited India and met Vice-President Shri Venkaiah Naidu. A MoU for cooperation between the Senate of Rwanda and the Rajya Sabha of India was signed during that visit.

Other visits from Rwanda recorded in the brief include:

Ms. Rose Mukantabana, Speaker of Parliament of Rwanda (October 2012), to attend the 7th Meeting of Women Speakers of Parliament in New Delhi
Mr. Anastase Murekezi, Prime Minister of Rwanda (October 2015), to take part in the India-Africa Forum Summit III
Mr. Olivier Nduhungirehe, Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (January 2019), to attend the 9th edition of the summit in Gujarat
Mr. Vincent Biruta, Foreign Minister of Rwanda (7-8 December 2023), when he and the External Affairs Minister held delegation level talks
Amb. Olivier Nduhungirehe, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (02-06 March 2026), to co-chair the Second India-Rwanda Joint Commission Meeting and attend the 11th edition of the Raisina Dialogue on 05-06 March 2026

Agreements of the 2018 State visit

The following MoUs and agreements were signed during Prime Minister Modi's State visit to Rwanda in July 2018:

MoU on Defence Co-operation
Bilateral Trade Agreement
MoU on Dairy Co-operation
MoU on leather cooperation
MoU on Cultural Exchange
Amendment to the MoU on Cooperation in Agriculture and Animal Resources

Two LoC agreements were also signed during the visit.

Institutional mechanisms

The brief states that relations have been given impetus by several institutional mechanisms: the Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) at the level of MoS/Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) at the level of Joint Secretary/Director General, and the Joint Defence Cooperation Committee (JDCC).

Joint Commission Meeting

The first India-Rwanda JCM at the Ministerial level was held in Kigali from 14-15 November 2021. Shri V. Muraleedharan, MoS for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs of India, co-chaired it with Dr Vincent Biruta, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Rwanda. According to the brief, the JCM reviewed bilateral relations as a whole, and the two sides committed to take their relations to new heights at both bilateral and multilateral levels.

The Second India-Rwanda JCM was held in New Delhi from 02-03 March 2026, co-chaired by Shri Kirti Vardhan Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs, and Amb. Olivier Nduhungirehe. It reviewed cooperation in defence, agriculture, trade and investment, health, education, Science and Technology, digital platforms, culture and people-to-people cooperation. The two Ministers also signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the Cultural Exchange Programme (CEP) for the year 2026-2030.

Foreign Office Consultations

The first FOC between India and Rwanda was held on 03 May 2018 in Kigali. The Indian side was led by the Joint Secretary (East & Southern Africa), Ministry of External Affairs, and the Rwandan side by the Director General of Bilateral Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MINAFFET).

The Second India-Rwanda FOC took place on 05 December 2024 in New Delhi, co-chaired by JS (E&SA), Ministry of External Affairs and DG (Asia, Pacific & Middle East Affairs), MINAFFET. The two sides undertook a comprehensive review of relations, including political, trade and investment, defence, energy, agriculture, health, education and culture. They also discussed cooperation in new areas such as space, critical and emerging technologies, cyber security, HA&DR and mining.

First Track 1.5 dialogue

On 18 February 2026, the High Commission of India, in collaboration with the Economic Policy Research Network (EPRN) Rwanda, organised a Joint Policy Dialogue at the Kigali Convention Centre. Its theme was "India-Rwanda Socio-economic ties: innovations, opportunities and challenges". The brief describes it as the first Track 1.5 initiative between India and Rwanda.