President Pratibha Patil to visit Andaman

Port Blair, Nov 26 (UNI) President Prathibha Patil has expressed her desire to visit the Andaman and Nicobar Islands which may take place by the end of next month, high-level officials in the Andaman administration said here today.

However, no official confirmation about the President's visit had yet been received from the Rashtrapati Bhawan, the officials added.

Nevertheless, the Andaman administration was gearing up to accord a warm welcome to the President on her maiden visit to the islands, Lt Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands Bhopinder Singh said.

Mr Singh said the administration would apprise Ms Patil of the challenges being faced by the islands owing to the geographical remoteness of the territory from the mainland.

UNI