External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee was on Sunday rushed to the national capital from Kolkata in a special plane after being injured in a road accident in West Bengal and admitted to an elite army hospital where doctors said his condition was stable.

Mukherjee (72) is 'cheerful and stable,' said a medical bulletin issued by doctors of the Army's Research and Referral Hospital, where the minister was admitted.      

The bulletin said Mukherjee underwent a CT scan immediately after his admission. The results are clear and all his vital organs are working normally but he would be kept under observation for the next 48 hours, it said.

Mukherjee said he was well and hoped to be back at work after 48 hours.

"I am well but doctors have advised me 48-hours rest. I hope to be back to work after that period," he said in a message.

In a special gesture, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh received Mukherjee at the Palam airbase when he arrived there and enquired about his health.

In view of Mukherjee's condition after the accident, his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia beginning Monday has been cancelled, official sources said.

During his visit, the minister was expected to meet Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz and hold talks on enhancing bilateral ties.

Mukherjee suffered injuries to his head and other parts of the body when his car was hit by a truck while he was returning to Kolkata from Murshidabad on Saturday night. He was initially treated at Bethuadahari Primary Hospital and later shifted to Krishnanagar Hospital in West Bengal.