Wednesday, June 15 2005 14:14 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

St Petersburg: United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi arrived in St Petersburg today (Jun 15, 2005) onboard a special Russian Presidential aircraft to hold talks with President Vladimir Putin on bilateral relations.

She was received at the airport by Vice Governor of St Petersburg A V Prokhorenko.

From the airport she drove straight to the Konstantiovsky Palace where she is scheduled to meet President Putin, who will also host a lunch in her honour.

Sonia, who is on a four-day visit of Russia at the invitation of President Putin as his personal guest, will meet him today at his hometown and discuss ways to further enhance Indo-Russian strategic partnership.

Later, she will visit the Imperial Palace Petershoff near St Petersburg.

She is accompanied by External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh and Indian Ambassador to Russia Kanwal Sibal.

She has already undertaken a private tour of cultural sites in Moscow visiting the Pushkin Fine Arts Museum, Kremlin Armoury and Diamond Fund which houses the diamond 'Bloody Shah,' the war booty which Persia's Nadir Shah took after his invasion of Delhi in the 18th century.

This is Sonia's fourth Russia visit and first after becoming UPA chairperson. Earlier, she had visited Soviet Russia with her husband late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Last time she visited Moscow with Rajiv in February 1991 as personal guests of Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.