Sonia presents Indira Gandhi Peace Prize to Chile’s ex-Prez

Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday said Indira Gandhi, India’s first and only woman Prime Minister, had transformed the nation through policies aimed at reducing poverty, ending deprivation and confronting inequality. She was speaking after presenting the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2024 to Michelle Bachelet, Chile’s first woman President and a former UN Human Rights Chief.

Sonia Gandhi said the award, instituted in 1985 in memory of “one of the most remarkable women leaders of our age”, was meant to recognise individuals and institutions working for peace, social progress and sustainable development. She noted the award served as a reminder that even in difficult times there are people who continue to fight for justice and the collective good.

Recalling the former Prime Minister’s worldview, she said Indira Gandhi often described peace as essential because it enabled nations to confront their “real battles”, against poverty, disease and ignorance. She said that these values shaped the late leader’s work and reflected her belief that every person deserves a life free from discrimination, violence and hardship.

Accepting the prize, Michelle Bachelet expressed deep gratitude and said she felt privileged to return to India, which she described as a nation of immense cultural richness and diversity. She paid tribute to Indira Gandhi’s life, calling her a visionary whose pursuit of peace, justice and human progress “remains strikingly relevant” today.

Bachelet said Indira believed that nations could prosper only by living in harmony, a principle that feels even more urgent in an increasingly divided world. She said her own political journey had been shaped by a commitment to human rights and the belief that people’s welfare is inseparable from dignity and freedom.

She urged countries to work together across regions and generations to build a world where equality and dignity are lived realities, not distant aspirations.

Sonia Gandhi also described Bachelet as an “inspiring leader”, noting the hardships she had endured in her youth, including loss, repression and exile. She said it was striking that both Indira Gandhi and Bachelet grew up in turbulent times and witnessed their families and nations struggle under authoritarianism.

Bachelet, a trained doctor, returned to Chile after exile and worked in the health ministry before becoming the Health Minister in 2000. She subsequently became Latin America’s first woman Defence Minister and later won two presidential terms. Sonia Gandhi said Bachelet’s work had consistently centred on protecting rights, particularly those of women.

As President, Bachelet introduced reforms to strengthen primary healthcare, expanded access for vulnerable communities and advanced legislation promoting equality and personal freedoms.

Earlier in the day, Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge, Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi visited Shakti Sthal to honour the former Prime Minister on her 108th birth anniversary. The leaders offered floral tributes and observed a brief moment of remembrance.