Sonia Gandhi attends the function to present Indira Gandhi peace prize

New Delhi: Congress president and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, who returned from the US after a routine check up on Wednesday attended the function to confer the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development on Nobel Prize-winning Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf at Rashtrapati Bhavan well on Thursday morning.

Sonia Gandhi was the first dignitary to arrive and take her seat on the podium at the historic Durbar Hall. President Pranab Mukherje gave away the award to Sirleaf. Vice President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also were present on the occasion.

Wearing a rust-and-green sari, Sonia Gandhi was accompanied by son and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, who sat with the audience in the front row along with Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and several Cabinet ministers, including Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, Food and Consumer Affairs Minister KV Thomas and Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Kumari Selja.
Sonia Gandhi, in her capacity as chairperson of the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust, praised the Liberian president as being a "exceptionally remarkable woman who has touched and changed millions of lives" who was being honoured in the name of "one of India's most remarkable women", her mother-in-law, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

"The extraordinary story of her life, her charismatic personality, and her strength of character, are an inspiration to all of us, women and men alike, around the world," added the Congress President.

Sirleaf is the eighth woman to be honoured with this award in its 27 years. "The Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development was instituted in the name of former Prime Minister Late Indira Gandhi. It celebrates the values that she stood and fought for in the service of our nation and its people," a statement from Rashtrapati Bhavan said.