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Dr Singh arrives in Uzbekistan

By Ramananda Sengupta in Tashkent
April 25, 2006 22:14 IST

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on Tuesday on the second leg of his two-nation trip.

He was received at the airport by Uzbek Prime Minister Saukat Mirzaev and Foreign Minister Elyor Ganiev, who is also the minister in-waiting for Dr Singh.

Complete Coverage: PM in Germany, Uzbekistan

On Wednesday, he will receive a ceremonial guard of honor at the Presidential palace or the Durmen, and then have a meeting with President Islam Abduganievich Karimov. This will be followed by delegation level talks and the signing of a few agreements.

Soon afterwards, he will lay wreaths at the monument of humanism and independence, and at the Shastri Monument, which honors late Indian prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri who died here in January 1966.

'The Uzbek people love India'

In the afternoon, he will inaugurate the Indo-Uzbek center for information for information technology and then meet representatives of the small Indian community before returning to the Durmen residence for a state reception hosted by president Karimov.

Earlier in the morning, in Berlin, Germany, Dr Singh met with members of the Indo-German Parliamentary group, comprising parliamentarians from both nations. Indian officials said this is the largest such caucus in Germany, and compared it with the Indo American caucus in the US Congress and Senate.

Both Indian and German officials described the visit as a major success. Admitting that there had been some element of 'trepidation' over the first meeting between the two leaders, Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal said in the event, there was a tremendous bonding between Dr Singh and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Ramananda Sengupta in Tashkent

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