Antony lays wreath at Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

Defence Minister A K Antony laid a wreath at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum at Ba Dinh Square here on Tuesday morning.

Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), Dec 18 : Defence Minister A K Antony laid a wreath at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum at Ba Dinh Square here on Tuesday morning.

Antony was 'deeply touched' by the simple living of Ho Chi Minh as he wrote in the visitors' book 'I pay my respects to the leader whose life and times inspires generations of people across the world'.

Antony reached Ho Chi Minh City on the second leg of his visit to Vietnam.

The embalmed body of Ho Chi Minh lies in state at this historic location where he had declared independence from French rule on September 2, 1945.

After his death in 1969, the site was chosen for his mausoleum.

Antony spent about an hour at the Presidential Palace complex adjacent to the mausoleum.

The majestic Presidential Palace was built by the French at the start of the beginning of the twentieth century.

However, when the iconic leader Ho Chi Minh became President in 1954, he considered it to be too opulent to live in it. Instead, he decided to reside in an austere cottage in the same complex for the rest of his life.

The Presidential Palace was used only for special official functions, especially when he had to receive world leaders and statesmen, a tradition which is being followed even now.

It was here that Ho Chi Minh received Jawaharlal Nehru when the latter visited Hanoi in 1954.

ANI