President Halonen to travel to India for the Sustainable Development Summit

Office of the President of the Republic
Press Release 30 January 2012

Between 31 January and 3 February 2012 President of the Republic Tarja Halonen will be in Delhi, India at the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit. The programme of the President’s visit will also include meetings with President Pratibha Devisingh Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Members of the President’s delegation will include Minister for International Development Heidi Hautala.

In connection with the Summit President Halonen will be presented with the Sustainable Development Leadership Award. Previous recipients include Indian Prime Minister Singh, Japanese Prime Minister Hatoyama and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.

At the Summit President Halonen will also present the final report of the UN High-level Panel on Global Sustainability, which she has co-chaired together with the President of the Republic of South-Africa Jacob Zuma. The report will be submitted to the UN Secretary-General in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa on Monday, 30 January.

President Halonen is a patron of the World Sustainable Development Forum, the background organisation for the Delhi Summit, and also participated in the Summit in 2007 and 2009. The Summit is organised by Indian-based The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), headed by its Director-General, Nobel Laureate R.K. Pachauri. The Delhi Summit has become an important international discussion forum, attracting political leaders, researchers and representatives of international organisations and businesses.