President Ram Nath Kovind left on a three-nation tour to Cyprus, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic on Sunday morning. On the first leg of his visit he will reach Cyprus later in this afternoon. During his visit Mr. Kovind will have a meeting with his counterpart Nicos Anastasiades, address an extra ordinary session of the house of representatives and deliver a lecture at the University of Cyprus.
He will also address members of Indian diaspora. The visit is expected to further strengthen the economic and people to people ties between the two countries.
President Kovind will arrive in Bulgaria on Tuesday where meeting with Bulgarian President Radev and Prime Minister Boyko Borissov is scheduled to take place. Mr. Kovind will also address a business forum and deliver a lecture at the Sofia University.
On the last leg of his journey, the President will arrive in the Czech republic on Friday. He will hold meetings with the Czech President Milos Zeman and discuss issues of mutual interest to take the strong ties between the two countries further. Mr Kovind will address business representatives from the two countries and interact with students at the Charles University. He is scheduled to be back in Delhi on Sunday.
Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Parshottam Khodabhai Rupala, and two Members of Parliament are also accompanying the President as part of his delegation to these countries.
India has enjoyed a historically close relation and strong economic ties with these countries. As part of the European Union, Cyprus, Bulgaria and the Czech republic have vast potential for economic cooperation that could boost trade, investment and technological exchange with India.
From the closeness of views between Mahatma Gandhi and Archbishop Macarios III of Cyprus, Gurudev Ravindra Nath Tagore’s visit to Bulgaria in 1926 and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose who founded Indo-Czech association in 1934, the relations with these countries are historic. The visit of President Ram Nath Kovind will build upon this and usher in a new phase of strong ties at multiple levels with these countries.
