Zanzibar President heads for Jaipur after arriving in India

The President of Zanzibar, Dr. Ali Mohamed Shein headed for Jaipur soon after arriving in national capital New Delhi on Saturday.

Dr. Shein, who is on an official visit from February 1 to February 9 at the invitation of Vice President Hamid Ansari, is likely to visit the Barefoot College in Ajmer tomorrow, a Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) release said.

"Impressed by the skills of Zanzibari rural women in assembling, installing and maintaining solar lamps for providing electric power to nearly 100 homes in rural Zanzibar after their training under India's ITEC programme, Dr. Shein and his delegation will be visiting the Barefoot College in Tilonia, with a view to establishing similar training facilities in Zanzibar," an official statement said.

Dr. Shein will be leading a delegation comprising of senior ministers and officials.

The visiting dignitary is expected to meet President Pranab Mukherjee and some cabinet ministers, besides holding delegation-level talks.

During his visit, Dr. Shein is also likely to visit Hyderabad, Bangalore and Mumbai for meeting with captains of industry, business leaders and members of the Tanzanian community.

He will be accompanied by his wife Mrs. Mama Mwanamwema Shien.

The forthcoming visit of the President of Zanzibar to India, nearly a decade after such a visit by his predecessor, is expected to strengthen the development partnership between India and Zanzibar, within the framework of India's close bilateral relationship with the United Republic of Tanzania.