Vice President Ansari to embark on Morocco, Tunisia visit

Vice President Hamid Ansari will from today undertake a five-day visit to Morocco and Tunisia.

The visit will not only seek to boost ties with the two nations but also lay the platform for a future strategic partnership.

President Ansari is likely to discuss issues of terrorism, UN Security Council expansion and investments in private sector with the leaders of the two north-African nations.

The President, who is accompanied by his Salma Ansari, will be in Morocco from May 30 to June 1 at the invitation of Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane

The visit intends to further strengthen the cordial relations between the two countries, further develop and diversify profile of bilateral economic cooperation and explore new avenues of co-operation and partnership on a wide range of issues of shared common interest.

The Vice President and the Prime Minister of Morocco would be jointly launching the India-Morocco Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Rabat where members of Indian diaspora would interact with him.

During the course of his visit, Vice President Ansari would be meeting with leading intellectuals and Imams of Morocco as well as delivering a talk at Mohammed V University in Rabat.

In the second leg of his tour, the Vice President will visit Tunisia from June 2-3.

During this visit, Vice President Ansari would be holding discussions in Tunis with President Beji Caid Essebsi and Prime Minister Habib Essid on a wide range of issues of shared common interest.

He would deliver a key note address to the Tunisian Diplomatic Corps and leading scholars and think tanks at the Tunisian Institute for Strategic Studies.

The Vice President would return to the national capital on the morning of June 4.