PRESIDENT President to unveil Tagore's bust in Switzerland

New Delhi, Sep 23 (PTI) A bust of Rabindranath Tagore will be unveiled by President Pratibha Patil early next month in the picturesque Switzerland, where a local university will sign an MoU with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) to set up a 'Tagore Chair' on Indian studies. Patil will pay a state visit to Switzerland from September 30 to October 4 at the invitation of President Micheline Calmy-Rey and to Austria from October 4-7 at the invitation of President Heinz Fischer. In Switzerland, the President will be having wide-ranging discussions with the Swiss President and other members of the Federal Council (Swiss Cabinet). She will unveil the bust of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore at the University of Lausanne on October 4 and witness the signing of a MoU to set up a 'Tagore Chair' on Indian Studies between the University and the ICCR, a statement here said. In Austria, her engagements include delegation-level discussions with Fischer and meetings with Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann and the Speaker of the Austrian Parliament, Barbara Prammer. An Indian business delegation will be accompanying Patil. She and her counterparts would also address a joint business forum in both Switzerland and Austria. In both countries, she would be meeting with the Indian community, the statement said. While Calmy-Rey had paid a state visit to India in November 2007, Fischer had visited India in February 2005 - the first ever visit by an Austrian Head of State to India.