President plants Baobab sapling at Rashtrapati Bhavan garden

President Ram Nath Kovind planted a Baobab sapling, which was gifted to him during his visit to Madagascar last month, at the Rashtrapati Bhavan garden today.

The sapling was gifted by the University of Madagascar as a gesture of goodwill in return for a Neem tree that the President planted at the campus in Antananarivo during the visit, a Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesman said.

The Baobab tree has a life span of over 2,000 years. It is high in medicinal and nutritional properties, quite like the Neem tree.

The exchange of these plants highlights the value both India and Madagascar attach to traditional knowledge and medicine in their respective cultures, the spokesman said.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar were also present on the occasion, along with diplomats from Madagascar Embassy here.