Sonia appears in public after US visit

Gandhi returned on Wednesday night from New York

Congress president Sonia Gandhi was seen in public on Thursday, after a week’s medical visit to the US, at the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development ceremony. The 2012 prize was conferred on the President of the West African nation of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

Gandhi had returned on Wednesday night from New York. She was well in time, seated on the dais before the other dignitaries, which included President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice-President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust, which instituted the award, stated in the citation that Sirleaf was getting it “for serving as an example and an inspiration to many women in Africa and beyond”. Sirleaf was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2011, with two other women activists from that continent, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkol Karman, for their 'non-violent struggle for the safety of women and their rights to full participation in peace-building work'.

Gandhi, in her capacity as chairperson of the Trust, praised the Liberian president as an "exceptionally remarkable woman who has touched and changed millions of lives" and who was being honoured in the name of "one of India's most remarkable women", her mother-in-law, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Gandhi said, "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."

Sirleaf is the eighth woman to be honoured with this award in its 27 years.

President Mukherjee called Sirleaf "a powerful voice for conflict resolution, harmony, peace and democracy in Africa".

Gandhi was accompanied by son Rahul Gandhi, who sat among the audience, along with Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar and cabinet ministers.