Indian president to visit Laos

VIENTIANE - Indian President Pratibha Patil was to pay a state visit to Laos later this week, official reports said Monday.

Patil was scheduled to arrive Thursday for a five-day visit to the land-locked communist country at the invitation of President Choummaly Sayasone, the Lao Presidential Palace announced in a statement.

Laos, a mountainous country half the size of France, is a member of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), with which India has been fostering close ties over the past decade.

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.