Tricolour upside down in Uzbekistan hotel during Ansari's visit

Samarkand, Uzbekistan: In a faux-pas, the Indian tricolour was displayed upside down today at a private hotel in which Vice President Hamid Ansari stayed during his day-long visit to this ancient city in Uzbekistan.

Indian officials accompanying Ansari spotted the erroneous display of the tricolour at the main gate of hotel Registan Plaza when the Vice President and his delegation drove in Thursday morning.

The error was pointed out to the Uzbek authorities, who immediately rectified it.

During his visit to Samarkand, the vice president also interacted with the regional heads of the Province.

The Indian national flag is a horizontal tricolour of saffron at the top, white in the middle and green at the bottom in equal proportion with a blue coloured Ashok Chakra at the centre of the white band.

Ansari arrived in Tashkent on a four-day visit on Tuesday.

He had yesterday held discussions with Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov on a wide range of issues, including counter-terrorism and strengthening bilateral relations.

Ansari also met I Sobirov, the Chairman of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan and D Tashmukhamedokva, the Speaker of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan (the Lower House).

Samarkand is most noted for its central position on the Silk Road between China and the Mediterranean, and for being an Islamic centre for scholarly study.

In the 14th century it became the capital of the empire of Timur and is the site of his mausoleum – the Gur-e Amir.

PTI