By IANS,
Shimla : After wrapping up official talks in New Delhi, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa Thursday began a one-and-a-half day sojourn in this Himachal Pradesh state capital.
“Rajapaksa along with his wife reached Shimla this (Thursday) morning on a private visit,” state Health Minister Rajeev Bindal told IANS.
The president would stay in Oberoi Group’s heritage hotel Wildflower Hall on the outskirts of the town, he said.
“The president will attend a reception hosted by Governor Urmila Singh in the Barnes Court (Raj Bhavan) Thursday evening, where Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal will also be present,” Bindal, who is the minister protocol, said.
State hospitality and protocol secretary Ajay Bhandari said Rajapaksa would spend most of the time touring the grand buildings constructed in the British era.
“Both Wildflower Hall hotel and Barnes Court are historical landmarks of the town,” he said
It was at Barnes Court that the Simla Agreement between India and Pakistan was inked after the 1971 war. It is now the residence of the governor.
Constructed in 1832, this elegant building was the residence of former Lieutenant Governor of Punjab Sir Louis Dane.
Likewise, Wildflower Hall, close to Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s daughter Priyanka’s upcoming cottage, was once the residence of the commander-in-chief of the British army.
After India’s independence, the building was handed over to the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation for running a hotel. It was gutted in a fire in 1992. The government in 1995 handed over the property to the Oberois to re-construct it into a luxury spa at Charabra at a height of 8,300 feet amid thick verdant forests of pine and cedar.