By IANS
New Delhi, April 10 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Thursday met President Pratibha Patil ahead of her official visit to three Latin American countries beginning Saturday.
According to sources, Manmohan Singh spent about 25 minutes at Rashtrapati Bhavan, and discussed Patil’s visit to Brazil, Mexico and Chile.
Patil will meet Brazilian President Lula da Silva, Mexican President Felipe de Jesus Calderon Hinojosa and President Michelle Bachelet of Chile during her 12-day visit. It will be Patil’s first foreign visit since she assumed office in July last year.
Patil, the first woman president of India, will begin her official visit to Brazil from Sao Paulo, where she will arrive April 13. She will also visit Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia.
The president will spend four days in Mexico, during which she will visit Mexico city and Guadalajara province.
The president, who will arrive in Santiago for two days April 20, is scheduled to address the students and academicians at the University of Chile. Patil will have a stopover in Lisbon on her way to Brazil and will halt in Cape Town while returning to India April 23.