Hanoi, Jun 8 (PTI) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday visited the mausoleum of Vietnam's Founding Father Ho Chi Minh and paid him respectful homage.

Singh, who is in the Southeast Asian country on a three-day visit from June 8, laid a wreath at the Monument for War Heroes and Martyrs as a mark of respect to Vietnam's gallant war heroes and martyrs here.

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“Visited the Mausoleum of the Founding Father of Vietnam, President Ho Chi Minh and paid respectful homage to the great leader,” Singh said on Twitter.

“Hon'ble RM began his official visit on 8 June 2022 by paying homage to Late President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum in Hanoi. As a mark of respect to Vietnam's gallant war heroes and martyrs, He laid a wreath at the Monument for War Heroes and Martyrs,” the Embassy of India tweeted.

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Defence Minister Singh is scheduled to call on Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.

In New Delhi, the defence ministry said Singh's visit to Vietnam from June 8 to 10 is aimed at further consolidating the bilateral defence ties as well as the comprehensive strategic partnership.

Ho Chi Minh, who was the President of North Vietnam from 1954 until his death in 1969, led the Vietnamese nationalist movement for more than three decades. He is known as Vietnam's Founding Father. After the unification of North and South Vietnam in 1976, Saigon was renamed as Ho Chi Minh City in his honour.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)