Tim Cook will visit India this week to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi (AAPL)

Thomson Reuters

Apple CEO Tim Cook will visit India this week and meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, two sources familiar with the matter said on Monday.

His visit comes at a crucial time as Apple seeks new growth markets such as India after posting its first-ever decline in iPhone sales.

Cook, who is visiting China after announcing a $1 billion investment in Chinese ride-hailing app Didi Chuxing, will fly to India on Tuesday in his first official visit to the country as the head of the U.S. technology company, one of the sources said.

The sources declined to be named as the plan is not public yet.

Apple declined to provide details of Cook's schedule in India.

Apple is looking to set up its first retail outlet in India, where it only has about a 2 percent market share. But its sales there surged 56 percent in the first three months of this year, driven mainly by cheaper older-generation devices such as the iPhone 5S.

(Reporting by Himank Sharma and Rupam Jain; Editing by Nick Macfie)