India's Modi to visit Ireland ahead of US

New Delhi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said yesterday he would head to Ireland this week en route to the United States, becoming the first Indian leader to visit Dublin in almost 60 years.

Modi will hold talks with his Irish counterpart Enda Kenny on Wednesday before meeting members of the thousands-strong Indian community in Ireland during the one-day visit.

"We hope to further develop strong people-to-people and economic ties with Ireland in the years to come," Modi said in a post on Facebook.

Modi will be the first premier since Jawaharlal Nehru in 1956 to visit the country.

Modi heads to the UN General Assembly in New York and will address a sustainable development forum before travelling to Silicon Valley seeking to promote his country as open for business.

The premier will meet Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg and other Internet leaders as he pushes for investment in India's IT sector, after coming to power in May 2014 pledging to revive India's flagging economy.