President Lennart Meri and Mrs. Helle Meri begin the state visit to the Republic of India on the invitation of Kicheril Raman Narayanan, the President of India, on Tuesday, February 2, 1999.

The President’s accompanying delegation includes Raul Mälk, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Raivo Vare, Minister of Transport and Communications; Uno Veering, Secretary of State; Mart Laanemäe, Deputy Under Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Signe Ratso, Deputy Under Secretary of the Ministry of Economic Affairs; Silvi Blyumovitch, Director General of the Tourist Board; Arvi Karotamm, Director General of the Estonian Trade and Investment Board; and Mart Relve, Acting Director of the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Toomas Kivimägi, the Pärnu County Governor. In India, the President will be accompanied by the Honorary Consul General of Estonia in India, Mr. K. Lal Vig.

The official welcoming ceremony will take place in the morning of February 5, 1999, in the front yard of Rashtrabati Bhavan, the Indian Presidential Palace. Besides the meeting of the two Heads of State, the President’s programme includes meetings with the Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpaye, and Ganti Mohanachandra Balayogi, Speaker of the Parliament Lok Sabha, and Krishnant Kant, the Vice Presdient of India. President of the Republic will also lay a wreath to the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial at Raighati.

On his state visit to India, the President will be accompanied by the delegation of businessmen of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has initiated the arrangement of Estonian-Indian business seminars both in Delhi and in Mumbai, where the President of the Republic will deliver an address to the participants. The President will also visit the Port of Mumbai, one of the biggest ports in India.

In addition to New Delhi and Mombai, the Estonian Head of State and the accompanying delegation will visit Agra and Jaipur. The Estonian guests will also be received by the Governors of the Rajasthan and Maharashtra provinces.

President of the Republic and Mrs. Helle Meri will arrive back in Tallinn on the late night of February 10, 1999.


Press Service of the Office of the President
Kadriorg, February 1, 1999

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