Prominent Indian athletes and a number of leading sports administrators will be present in London to witness the Queen’s Baton Relay ceremony in Buckingham Palace on October 29 — the highlight of a four-day State visit of President Pratibha Patil to the United Kingdom, starting on Monday.

This will be the first Presidential visit to the UK since 1990, and elaborate ceremonies have been planned, culminating in the handing over of the baton, which has been the curtain raiser for Commonwealth Games since 1958. Among the 11 sportspersons expected to witness the Buckingham Palace ceremony are Prakash Padukone, Sania Mirza, Kapil Dev, Milkha Singh, Gurbachan Singh Randhawa and Abhinav Bindra, who will handed the baton by Queen Elizabeth II.

Besides Delhi 2010 Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi, sports administrators travelling to London include former Sports Minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Digvijay Singh, BJP leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra and Tarlochan Singh. Union Sports Minister M S Gill will also be reaching London to witness the commencement of the baton relay — which will travel through 70 countries before reaching New Delhi 11 months later.

President Patil will be hosted by the Queen and the Lord Mayor of London in two separate banquets. She will also interact with British leader of opposition David Cameron, leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg, and members of the Indian expatriate and business community.

The UK-leg of the President’s tour will be followed by a three-day visit to Cyprus — the first by an Indian Head of State in nearly two decades. All former Presidents of Cyprus have visited India during their terms in office.

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