President Tan to make first state visit to India

SINGAPORE - President Tony Tan Keng Yam will make his first state visit to the Republic of India from Feb 8 to 11, 2015, where he will inaugurate the opening of a Peranakan exhibition, which is the main commemorative event celebrating the 50th anniversary of bilateral relations between Singapore and India.

The exhibition is themed "The Peranakan World: Cross-Cultural Art from Singapore and the Malacca Straits" and will be showcased at the National Museum in New Delhi.

President Tan will also attend a welcome ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the Presidential Palace, followed by a wreath laying ceremony at Raj Ghat, a memorial to Mahatma Gandhi.

President Tan will meet President Pranab Mukherjee, who will also host President Tan to a state banquet at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will also call on President Tan.

President Tan will launch the Singapore-India Commemorative Book published by the Institute of South Asian Studies and attend the "Flavours of Singapore" hosted for the Singapore community in New Delhi.

As part of Singapore's SG50 outreach, Mrs Mary Tan, the President's wife, will be presenting a donation of 300 Singapore-themed books to the National Library of India under the National Library Board of Singapore's SG50 Gift of Books project.

These titles include topics on Singapore's biodiversity, history, economic development, literature and arts and culture.

President Tan will be accompanied by his wife, Mrs Mary Tan, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, Second Minister for Foreign Affairs and Second Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Grace Fu, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Second Minister for Communications and Information Lawrence Wong, Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Transport Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, and Member of Parliament Vikram Nair.

During President Tan's absence, Mr J Y Pillay, Chairman of the Council of the Presidential Advisers, will exercise the functions of the office of the President for the period.

spanaech@sph.com.sg