Venezuela's acting president Rodriguez dials PM Modi, agrees to take bilateral ties to new heights

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez on Friday and the two leaders agreed to take the bilateral relations to new heights in the years ahead. The phone call between Rodriguez and Modi was the first since the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife by the United States. ''Spoke with Acting President of Venezuela, Ms. Delcy Rodri­guez,'' the prime minister said in a post on X. ''We agreed to further deepen and expand our bilateral partnership in all areas, with a shared vision of taking India-Venezuela relations to new heights in the years ahead,'' he added. Rodriguez took over as the interim president of Venezuela on January 5, two days after US forces seized her predecessor, Maduro, to face trial in New York. A statement from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said the two leaders agreed to further expand and deepen the India-Venezuela partnership in all areas, including trade and investment, energy, digital technology, health, agriculture and people-to-people ties. They exchanged views on various regional and global issues of mutual interest, and underscored the importance of their close cooperation for the Global South, the statement said.