PM, wife celebrate wedding anniversary on flight

On Board Air India One, Sep 15: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur today celebrated their 48th wedding anniversary on board a special Air India flight from Brasilia to Havana.

Dr Singh, 74, and his wife cut a cake and received greetings from officials accompanying them on the flight, his aides told journalists.

Asked by the officials to say something on the occasion, Dr Singh, in a rare display of humour, quoted the Duke of Edinburg as having said, ''The first 25 years of a marriage are normally horrible.'' To this, Ms Gursharan Kaur responded, ''We have crossed that milestone, so it is okay now.'' Later, when Dr Singh came to the media section of the aircraft, journalists wished him a happy anniversary before settling down for an on-board press conference by the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister, who was in Brasilia for bilateral talks with the Brazilian President and for the first India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) summit, today reached Havana for the 14th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit.

UNI