--- description: Modi and Abe each visited 23 countries in 2015, far more than their peers. President Obama, by comparison, only called on 11 title: Here Are the Two Diplomatic Jet-Setters of 2015 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc83bb9d1923fb9f7/69887606196cf47365039886/gettyimages-501081750.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [diplomacy](/tag/diplomacy/) ## diplomacy Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Prime Ministers of India and Japan Were the Diplomatic Jet-Setters of 2015 by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 18, 2015 9:13 AM CUT  Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe waves to the media before their delegation level meeting, at Hyderabad House on December 12, 2015 in New Delhi, India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe waves to the media before their delegation level meeting, at Hyderabad House on December 12, 2015 in New Delhi, India.Sonu Mehta—Hindustan Times/Getty Images by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 18, 2015 9:13 AM CUT It’s been a year packed with diplomacy for India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, with the two Asian leaders significantly [surpassing](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-16/frequent-fliers-which-leader-racked-up-the-most-air-miles-in-2015- "undefined") their peers in terms of foreign trips. Modi and Abe each visited 23 countries in 2015, nine more than their regional rival China’s President Xi Jinping, according to Bloomberg. U.S. President Barack Obama, on the other hand, only called on 11 overseas destinations during his penultimate year in office. Modi’s visits to several corners of the globe—taking in smaller nations like the Seychelles and Mauritius as well as established powers like the U.S. and China—were focused on presenting India as a fast-rising international power and an attractive investment destination. Abe crisscrossed Asia, taking in Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea and the Philippines, but also made trips to Israel, Egypt and Jordan, among others. He visited fewer countries this year compared to 2014, however, when he made 30 foreign trips. \[[_Bloomberg_](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-16/frequent-fliers-which-leader-racked-up-the-most-air-miles-in-2015- "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4154504/modi-abe-obama-xi-state-visits-diplomacy/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4154504/modi-abe-obama-xi-state-visits-diplomacy/"},"headline":"The Prime Ministers of India and Japan Were the Diplomatic Jet-Setters of 2015","datePublished":"2015-12-18T09:13:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:29:08.918Z","description":"Each notched up visits to more than 20 countries","url":"https://time.com/4154504/modi-abe-obama-xi-state-visits-diplomacy/","keywords":["diplomacy","Barack Obama","India","Shinzo Abe","Xi Jinping","Japan","Narendra Modi"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc83bb9d1923fb9f7/69887606196cf47365039886/gettyimages-501081750.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc83bb9d1923fb9f7/69887606196cf47365039886/gettyimages-501081750.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Prime Minister Narendra Modi Meets Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe","caption":"Prime Minister Narendra Modi Meets Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe","creditText":"Sonu Mehta—Hindustan Times/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/diplomacy/","name":"diplomacy"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4154504/modi-abe-obama-xi-state-visits-diplomacy/","name":"The Prime Ministers of India and Japan Were the Diplomatic Jet-Setters of 2015"}}]}] ```