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Visit to Chile most fruitful: Pratibha

SANTIAGO (CHILE): To the traditional commonality in Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, yoga and meditation, the visiting Indian President, Pratibha Patil, and her Chilean counterpart, Michelle Bachelet, added a new chapter: social change through education and women’s empowerment.

At a return banquet Ms. Patil gave on Wednesday in honour of the Chilean President, she observed she was deeply struck by Dr. Bachelet’s commitment to work for the betterment and empowerment of the people of Chile, specially the underprivileged and women. “As two women Presidents, we have established a close personal rapport and an empathy that is based on shared experiences.”

Emphasising on mutual exchanges in education, tourism and contacts between youth, Ms. Patil hoped Chile and India would see more investment, particularly in infrastructure. She underscored the need for implementation of the bilateral pacts. While the Chilean President stressed on a Free Trade Agreement, Indian officials have hinted at expanding the current Preferential Trade Agreement between the two countries.

Describing her visit as “most fruitful,” Ms. Patil noted that the hospitality and courtesies extended by the Chilean government “far exceeded the norms of diplomatic niceties.” She presented a CD and literature on ayurveda to Dr. Bachelet who is a trained physician. Dr. Bachelet enquired about its efficacy.

Raising a toast to “bringing the distant near,” Dr. Bachelet quoted Rabindranath Tagore to express her country’s “old admiration for India.” She said the invitation to her to visit India and other acts represented the “countless signals of confidence that the visit had given to Indo-Chilean relations.” It had brought the two nations much closer.

She said, “India and Chile share the need for guaranteeing certain public goods such as peace, security, fight against terrorism and the eradication of poverty. Our countries are united in the shared objective of looking for a more prosperous, fair and inclusive future. That is why we want to further strengthen relations between Asia and Latin America.”

Indian Ambassador Sushmita Ganguli Thomas said that on the eve of Ms. Patil’s visit, as a gesture of goodwill, the Chile government relaxed visa norms for businessmen.

Rama Raghu Iyer, general manager of NIIT (Education) who is part of the President’s delegation, told The Hindu that she had signed an MoU for getting the non-English speaking Chilean students over to Chennai to be trained in English language and IT.

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Visit to Chile most fruitful: Pratibha

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