New Delhi: The prime minister, Narendra Modi, met Prince Rahim Aga Khan V in New Delhi on Thursday and discussed expanding India’s cooperation with the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) across healthcare, agriculture and rural development. Modi said the discussions also covered youth and women’s empowerment, while recalling the contribution of the late Aga Khan IV to development initiatives in India.
Prince Rahim Aga Khan V is the 50th hereditary Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims and chair of AKDN. He succeeded his father in February 2025 after having worked for more than three decades across AKDN institutions and development programmes.
No new agreement, memorandum of understanding or specific project was announced in the official account of Thursday’s meeting.
AKDN’s engagement in India dates to 1905, when the first Aga Khan school in the country was established at Mundra in Gujarat. Its work has since expanded across rural development, agriculture, education, healthcare, water and sanitation, economic inclusion, disaster preparedness and cultural conservation.
Rural development remains a major area of engagement. According to AKDN, the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme India is active in more than 3,255 villages across Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra and has reached more than 3.5 million people.
The network’s agencies also work on agricultural productivity, water management, climate resilience and livelihood generation. AKDN says the Aga Khan Foundation’s agriculture and food security programmes supported around 390,000 people in India in 2025.
The Aga Khan Foundation and Aga Khan Rural Support Programme India have also supported more than 200,000 farmers in adopting natural farming techniques. In education, AKDN institutions include schools, preschools and the Aga Khan Academy in Hyderabad, while the Aga Khan foundation’s early-childhood development programmes reached about 2.2 million children in 2025.
Cultural and social programmes expand footprint
AKDN’s work in India also includes major heritage conservation projects. These include the restoration and redevelopment of the Humayun’s Tomb Sunder Nursery Nizamuddin Basti precinct in Delhi and the Qutb Shahi Heritage Park in Hyderabad.
Prince Rahim was involved in the inauguration of the completed 106-acre Qutb Shahi Heritage Park in July 2024 and opened the Humayun World Heritage Site Museum in Delhi the following day.
His current visit to India runs from September 9 to 15 and is his first since becoming Aga Khan V. The visit, undertaken at the invitation of the vice-president, CP Radhakrishnan, also includes engagements in Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Hyderabad.
The Ministry of External Affairs has said the visit will review cooperation with AKDN in areas including social development and heritage preservation and explore opportunities for further development and community initiatives.