PM Narendra Modi attends Angela Merkel's private dinner in Germany

Berlin : Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a two-day visit to Germany, attended a private dinner hosted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday, soon after he arrived in Berlin.

"The bonds of a fruitful partnership. Chancellor Merkel receives PM Narendra Modi at Schloss Meseberg before a private dinner," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted along with pictures of the two leaders.

Schloss Meseberg, around 65 km from Berlin, is the country retreat of the German Chancellor and the official state guest house of the German government.

Earlier on Monday, Modi arrived in Berlin on the first leg of his six-day, four-nation tour of Europe.

Modi is accompanied by Minister for Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan, Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Seetharaman and Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbar.

On Tuesday, Modi and Merkel will head the fourth round of the biannual Inter-Governmental Consultations. Germany is the only country with which India has such an arrangement. Both the leaders will then address the India-Germany Business Summit.

Later, Modi will call on German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

From Germany, Modi will travel to Spain, Russia and France.