Poor visibility over the Tajik Capital Dushanbe forced the aircraft carrying Defence Minister A K Antony on his way back to India from Russia to land here instead of Dushanbe for a refuelling halt.
The plane was supposed to make a re-fuelling halt at Dushanbe but after seeing the weather conditions and poor visibility, the pilot decided to land it at the historic city of Khujand, an Indian Defence Ministry spokesperson said here.
Antony was on his way back to India after attending the three-day India-Russia defence talks in Moscow.
At the Khujand airport, the Defence Minister was received by the local Border Area Commander General Kasimov Azam Ismonovich, who had rushed here to meet the Indian leader.
While the Embraer Legacy special aircraft was being refuelled at Khujand, Ismonovich narrated to the entire delegation the history of the city in brief from the times of Alexander the Great.
Khujand is the second largest city of Tajikistan situated on the Syr Dariya River at the mouth of the Fergana Valley close to border with Uzbekistan. The city has a rich history due to its links with Alexander the Great and its location on the ancient silk route.