President Pranab Mukherjee has been conferred with the Professor Honoris Causa award by the Belarus State University at a ceremony in Belarus. The award was handed over to the President by the Rector of the University. The President said that the roadmap would further fuel the cooperation between the two countries. Pranab Mukherjee is the first Indian President who visited the country Belarus.

The President also hoped that trade could be doubled to 1 billion US dollars by 2020. He described terrorism and extremism as a major security threat for India and Belarus. He also expressed the greater cooperation among all countries to face terrorism. Indian Ambassador to Belarus, Manoj Kumar Bharti was also present on the occasion.

Tidbits

• In Latin, Honoris Causa means “for the sake of the honor”.
• Pranab Mukherjee is the thirteenth President of India.
• Mukherjee held a number of key cabinet portfolios—Defence (2004–06), External Affairs (2006–09) and Finance (2009–12).
• He is the first Bengali to hold the post of President of India.