New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind  is on a three-nation tour to Cyprus, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic from  today. On the first leg of his journey The President will be reaching Cyprus later in the afternoon today. He will have a meeting with his counterpart Nicos Anastasiades. Mr Kovind will also address an extra ordinary session of the house of representatives of Cyprus and deliver a lecture at the University of Cyprus during his visit.

He will also address members of Indian diaspora. Cyprus and India share strong economic relations. It is the 8th largest investor in India with a cumulative investment of over 9 billion dollars. 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, the 4th of September, where meeting with Bulgarian President Radev and Prime Minister Boyko Borissov is scheduled to take place. Mr. Kovind will address a business forum in Bulgaria and deliver a lecture at the Sofia University.

On the last leg of his journey, the President will arrive in the Czech republic on 6th September. He will hold meetings with the Czech President Milos Zeman and discuss issues of mutual concern to take the strong ties between India and the Czech republic further. In the Czech republic Mr Kovind will address business representatives from the two countries and interact with students at the Charles University. The President is scheduled to be back in Delhi on 9th September.

Parshottam Khodabhai Rupala, Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Ministry of Panchayati Raj 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.