Sunday, June 26 2005 12:25 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh today (Jun 26, 2005) unveiled the bust of Rabindranath Tagore in the Hungarian city of Balaton Fured, where the nobel laureate had gone for cardiac treatment in 1926.

"Balaton Fured has a special place in Indo-Hungarian relations and it gives me great pleasure to be here today and present a bust of our Nobel laureate, Rabindranath Tagore to the people of this very picturesque city," the minister said after unveiling the statue.

Singh was received by Istvan Boka, Mayor of the city of Balaton Fured.

"We in India are indebted to the people of Hungary for receiving and nurturing our great poet when he visited Hungary and came to Balaton Fured for treatment in 1926," Singh said.

"I would also like to acknowledge with appreciation the efforts of the Balaton Fured hospital in keeping alive the memory of Tagore by preserving the room where he received treatment along with the poet's memorabilia," the minister said.

"The promenade named after Tagore and the saplings planted around his bust have become symbolic of the deep roots of the historical friendship and cultural partnership between our two great nations," he added.

The trees planted in this area bear the name of almost all the very key figures in the Indian polity in the last fifty years.

EAM visited the Cardiac Hospital where 'Gurudev' had recuperated in 1926 and where a memorial has been created to his memory, External Affairs Ministry said in a release.

He was received by the Director of the Hospital, Dr Gabor Veress. The minister announced a donation of Hungarian Forint 1.5 million for the Hospital.