New Delhi: India rolled out the red carpet flanked by a crisply-garbed Guard of Honour to welcome His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, on his first official visit to the country on Thursday morning.
The high protocol on the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan presidential palace was fitting for the formal reception for the visit to kick off a three-day visit with high expectations by both longtime friends the UAE and India.
UAE-India relations - From organic partnership to strategic re...Dr Anwar Gargash and Reem Al Hashemi speak about UAE-India relations during the visit to India by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.
Posted by Gulf News on Thursday, 11 February 2016
Shaikh Mohammad was received by Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, and a number of senior Indian government officials.
The national anthems of both the UAE and India played, followed by an inspection of the Guard of Honour by Shaikh Mohammad.
As the ceremony concluded, Shaikh Mohammad shook hands with senior Indian officials who came to receive him, while Modi shook hands with a large delegation accompanying Shaikh Mohammad, including Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Shaikh Hamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chief of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince’s Court, Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, Saqr Bin Ghobash Saeed Ghobash, Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation, Dr Anwar Mohammad Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, among others.
The reception was also attended by a number of ministers and senior Indian officials and T.P. Seetharam, Ambassador of India to the UAE.
Later, Shaikh Mohammad visited the Raj Ghat, memorial site of the Mahatma Gandhi in New Delhi, accompanied by Dharmendra Pradhan, India’s Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas.
Shaikh Mohammad observed a minute of silence in respect and laid a wreath of flowers on the shrine of Gandhi, who led India’s peaceful struggle for independence.
To mark his visit, Shaikh Mohammad also planted a tree at the site and watered a tree that the late Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan had planted earlier on a visit to India.
Shaikh Mohammad wrote in the guest book, “The world is in much need today for the principles and values that Gandhi lived by. These values are based on justice, peace, equality and renunciation of violence. It is such values and principles that brought about the unity and development of the Indian nation, and they are the same values that we in the United Arab Emirates live by. They were sowed in our hearts and minds by a great man whose name is Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founding father of the UAE.”
He viewed a collection of sayings by the Mahatma Gandhi and was offered a commemorative gift at the site.
Shaikh Mohammad met Indian President Pranab Mukherjee at the presidential palace for lunch.
With inputs from WAM and IANS
