President Patil arrives in Switzerland

Geneva, Sep 30 (ANI): President Pratibha Devisingh Patil today arrived in Switzerland for a five-day state visit to enhance bilateral relations.

The members of the delegation accompanying the President include Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajeev Shukla and Members of Parliament Vijay Jawaharlal Darda, Prataprao Ganpatrao Jadhav, and Dr. Chinta Mohan.

Senior officials including the Secretary to President Dr. Christy Fernandez and Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs, are also a part of the delegation, besides a number of business leaders and members of the media.

The President would pay homage to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi on October 2 at his statue in Geneva. While in Berne, President will hold official talks with the President of the Swiss Confederation Micheline Calmy-Rey, and other members of the Federal Council.

She will also unveil a bust of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore at the University of Lausanne on October 4.

An MoU is expected to be signed between the University and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations on setting up of a Chair on Indian Studies. It is significant that this event takes place at a time when we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. By Sanjay Mohan (ANI)