President leaves on State Visits to UK, Cyprus

President Pratibha Patil left here today on a State Visits to the United Kingdom and Cyprus which are expected to help boost India's bilateral relations with the two countries.

The President is accompanied on the visit by ministers, members of Parliament and a business delegation.

Ms Patil's visit to the UK will be the third state visit to that country by an Indian President after visits by then President S Radhakrishnan in 1963 and Mr R Venkataraman in 1990. It will also be the first State Visit after the commencement of the strategic partnership between India and the UK in 2004.

During her stay in London, Ms Patil will have wide-ranging interactions with Queen Elizabeth II and other British leaders. The Queen will host a banquet in honour of the President,

The President will also meet British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Leader of the Opposition David Cameron and leader of the Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg.

Ms Patil will address a business meeting organised by the UK-India Business Council in which the business delegation accompanying her will participate.

The Lord Mayor of the City of London will host a banquet in the President's honour at the Guild Hall. The President will also interact with British Members of Parliament in a meeting organised at the Westminster by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on India. Ms Patil will interact with members of the Indian community this evening.

A highlight of her visit will be a ceremony at the Buckingham Palace, where the Queen's Baton Relay launch for the 14th Commonwealth Games, to be hosted by Delhi in October next year, will take place.

The President will also attend a function at which two prominent members of the Indian community, Mr Nat Puri and Mr Ghulam Noon, who is known as the "Curry King", will hand over to her some letters of Mahatma Gandhi and other memorabilia, including a piece of khadi cloth, acquired through an auction in the UK.

Ms Patil will visit Cyprus from October 29 to 31 in response to an invitation from her Cypriot counterpart Dimitris Christofias.

Apart from a meeting with Mr Christofias, she will also be meeting the President, or the Speaker, of the House of Representatives of Cyprus, Mr Marios Karoyian and the Archbishop of Cyprus Chrysostomos II.

Among other engagements, Ms Patil will visit the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce for an event in which the Cyprus-India Business Association and the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry will participate. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM).

The President will also meet with members of the 4000-strong Indian community in Cyprus, which mainly consists of professionals, students and others.

NNN