Skopje (North Macedonia), Jul 21 (PTI): President Droupadi Murmu arrived here on a two-day state visit, as part of her three-nation tour of European countries aimed at boosting ties.
She is the first Indian President to visit North Macedonia.
During the second leg of her visit to this landlocked country in southeastern Europe, beginning from Tuesday, Murmu will hold bilateral talks with her counterpart Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova.
She will also meet Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, Speaker of the Assembly Afrim Gashi and address the Parliament here.
Murmu is scheduled to address the India-North Macedonia Business Forum as well.
Both sides have a keen interest in deepening economic ties in priority sectors such as agriculture, pharmaceuticals, science and technology, Information Technology, and IT-enabled Services.
President Murmu will also visit Memorial of Mother Teresa.
Mother Teresa was born on August 26, 1910 in Skopje— the modern day capital of North Macedonia. She lived in Skopje until 1928, when she left to join the Sisters of Loreto in Ireland before eventually moving to India.
Built in 2009, this museum sits on Macedonia Street in the heart of Skopje. It stands on the exact site of the former Sacred Heart of Jesus Roman Catholic Church, where she was baptised the day after her birth.
Mother Teresa was awarded Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour, in 1980.
North Macedonia, which shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the north, covers an area of 25,713 square kilometres.
The Indian community in North Macedonia is very small. Most of them are engaged in the IT sector, teaching at universities or working as executives in multinational companies.
In the final leg of her tour, Murmu will visit Romania from July 23 to 25 at the invitation of President Nicusor Dan. It will be the first visit by an Indian president to Romania in more than three decades.
The state visit to the three nations reflects the importance India attaches to strengthening its bilateral ties with these countries, along with New Delhi’s engagement with the wider Eastern European region.
One of the most important focus of the visit is on 3Ts – trade, technology and tourism, Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs Sibi George has said. PTI AKV MNK MNK
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