MFA Press Statement: State Visit of President S R Nathan to New Zealand, 25 April to 1 May 2008

Minister for Foreign Affairs George Yeo made an official visit to Madhya Pradesh on 24 April 2008 after the conclusion of the 1st India-Singapore Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) meeting in New Delhi. Minister Yeo's visit to Madhya Pradesh was to follow up on Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's visit to Singapore in December 2006.

In Bhopal, capital of Madhya Pradesh, Minister Yeo met Chief Minister Chouhan and discussed ways to increase economic linkages between Singapore and Madhya Pradesh. During the meeting, Minister Yeo invited Chief Minister Chouhan to send a business delegation to Singapore to raise awareness of the economic opportunities in Madhya Pradesh. Earlier, Minister Yeo was given a briefing on the economic direction of the state and responded to several questions by businessmen. He also met leading businessmen and industrialists of Madhya Pradesh during an official dinner hosted by the Managing Director of State Trade and Industrial Facilitation Corporation Praveen Garg.

While in Madhya Pradesh, Minister Yeo made a visit to Sanchi. Currently a World Heritage site, Sanchi has some of the oldest Buddhist structures in India; Emperor Ashoka built the first stupas here in the 3rd century BC. While leaving the site, Minister Yeo met and spoke to a group of Taiwanese Buddhist pilgrims who also came to visit the stupas, monasteries and temples in Sanchi. He also visited Taj-ul-Masjid, one of the largest and oldest mosques in Asia.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
SINGAPORE
25 APRIL 2008