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The year began with visits of three European prime ministers literally one after another: Czech Republic Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek, 16–18 January; Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, 17–21 January; and Dutch Prime Minister Dr. Jan Peter Balkenende, 18–20 January. These were followed by the visit of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, King of Saudi Arabia, 24–7 January —a visit to India by a Saudi Monarch after five decades—as chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations. Next month saw the arrival of French President Jacques Chirac, 19-21 February, and March brought in US President George W. Bush, 01-03 March, in what was to be a historic visit with the signing of a nuclear agreement between India and USA. Close on the heels of the US presidential visit, Australian Prime Minister John Howard winged his way to India, 05-08 March, followed by Finnish Prime Minister Matti Taneli Vanhanen, 10-15 March, and Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, 20-22 March. As much has already been written on these visits, we bring you a visual representation of the
highlights of their trips.
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