Meenakshi Lekhi to depart for Uzbekistan today

Minister of State for External Affairs, Meenakshi Lekhi, will embark on an official visit to Uzbekistan and Switzerland on Thursday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

During her visit to Uzbekistan from Sept 23-26, Lekhi will meet Uzbekistan Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov and Minister of Culture Ozodbek Nazarbekov.

She will be delivering a lecture on 'India's democratic traditions' at the prestigious Tashkent State University of Law, according to a statement by the MEA.

"She will also have an interaction with members of the Indian community in Tashkent and meet distinguished Indologists from the Tashkent State Institute of Oriental Studies and other institutions. MoS will be addressing the students of Bukhara State University as part of the 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav' celebrations as well as interacting with Indian students at Samarkand State Medical Institute," the statement read.

After Uzbekistan, Lekhi will visit Switzerland from September 27-30 where he will hold discussions with Ignazio Cassis, Federal Councillor, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Foreign Minister) and Alain Berset, Federal Councillor, Ministry of Home Affairs and Culture.

"MoS will address the inaugural NZZ Impact Finance Conference on "Infrastructure in emerging markets - an engine of growth and real impact" as well as the Annual General Meeting of Swiss-India Chamber of Commerce. MoS will also interact with the Indo-Swiss community and will meet with the members of the international community in Geneva," the statement added.

The ministry said that India enjoys close and friendly relations with both Uzbekistan and Switzerland.

The visit of Lekhi will help in sustaining the momentum in our bilateral ties with both these countries, said the ministry.

( With inputs from ANI )