India keen to set up Mahatma Gandhi institute for peace

Updated on: Saturday, July 11, 2009

New Delhi: Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal met the UNESCO director Koichiro Matsuura and discussed the setting up a Mahatma Gandhi institute for peace studies in the country.

Sibal who is currently touring France, met Matsuura in Paris and discussed setting up the Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Peace Education and Sustainable Development, a HRD ministry statement said on Friday.

During the meeting, Sibal said that this proposed "Category-I UNESCO institute" is proposed to be set up as a symbol of the rich heritage and values of peace and diversity that India stands for.

The minister also pointed out that the permanent representatives of India to UNESCO had already started extensive consultations with the member states of the Asia Pacific region.

During the meeting it was also decided that UNESCO officials and HRD ministry authorities would sit down to "resolve outstanding issues mentioned in the interim report of the UNESCO mission team that has come to India to examine the feasibility of setting up of this institute".

The ministry statement said that Sibal's interest towards early finalisation of these proposals was responded to "very positively by the director general UNESCO".

The UNESCO headquarter has installed a statue of Sri Aurobindo, which will be formally unveiled on Sep 16

India keen to set up Mahatma Gandhi institute for peace

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