President keynote Speaker at Leadership Summit, New Delhi     
[Thursday, October 11, 2007 - 5.30 GMT]    

President Mahinda Rajapaksa will deliver a keynote Address at the fifth Hindustan Times Leadership Summit to be held on October 12 and 13 in New Delhi under the theme “The India that can be.”
  
The Summit is sponsored by Hindustan Times (HT) Media Ltd., one of the largest media conglomerates in India. Its objectives are to enhance the level of discussion on compelling and pressing national, regional and global issues, to stimulate interaction among leaders and to present an international quality thought-platform aimed at exploring possible solutions.
  
Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will inaugurate the fifth Summit on October 12. Other distinguished speakers on that day include Smt. Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson of the United People’s Alliance, P. Chidambaram, Indian Finance Minister, Mayawati, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujrat, Mohamed El Baradei, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency and Sir Bob Geldof, Songwriter, Activist.
  
President Rajapaksa will address the Summit on October 13 at 10 a.m. Other speakers on that day include Jeb Bush, former Governor of Florida, Prof. Daniel Schrag, Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences and Director, Harvard University Centre for the Environment and Dr. V. Ramanathan, Professor of Climate and Atmospheric Sciences, University of California.
  
Besides several business and cultural business and cultural personalities are also scheduled to address the Summit. They include Ms. Rajashree Birla, Director, Aditya Birla group, Nandan Nilenkani, Co-founder of Infosys Technologies & Co., Harish Manwani, President, Uniliver Asia and Africa and Chairman Hindustan Uniliver and Shah Rukh Khan.
  
Among the eminent persons who addressed the previous Summits are Atal Behari Vajpaee, former Indian Prime Minister, Chandrika Bandaranaike, former Sri Lankan President, Benazir Bhutto, former Pakistan Prime Minister, John Major, former British Prime Minister, Hamid Karzai, Afghan President, Ehud Barak, former Israel Prime Minister, William Cohen, former US Defence Secretary, Dr. Henry Kissinger and Madeline Albright, former US Secretaries of State and Lakshman Kadirgamar, former Sri Lankan Foreign Minister.