Wednesday, March 8 2006 18:20 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Yangon: President A P J Abdul Kalam today (Mar 08 2006) said he had a great respect for Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal Emperor of India, at whose mausoleum in Yangon he will pay tributes tomorrow.

Talking to reporters on board his Special Aircraft, Kalam said he had a great respect for Bahadur Shah Zafar "because he was a poet and I like poetry."

Bahadur Shah Zafar was exiled to Yangon after the British quelled the first war of independence.

Kalam said that when Zafar was exiled, he had said that perhaps nobody would come to see him and nobody will put flowers or candles on his grave.

The President said during his three-day visit to Myanmar, the first-ever by an Indian President, he would pay floral tributes at the mausoleum as well as light a candle.