Mayor of Providencia Mr. Labbe,

President of the Indian Association of Santiago,

It gives me great pleasure to be here with you in Santiago, Chile, at this special Plaza de la India which was inaugurated in 1968 by the then Prime Minister of India -Mrs. Indira Gandhi.

Mr. Juan Enrique Riveros,

President of the Chile-India Chamber of Commerce,

Mr. Madhur Bajaj, and other members of the Indian business delegation,

Ladies and Gentlemen.

I am delighted to be here today at this Joint Business meeting. I greatly appreciate the effort of the Chile-India Chamber of Commerce to make this interaction possible. May I also thank the Indian business delegation which is present here today and has accompanied me on the earlier legs of my current visit?

Hon'ble Mayor,

Distinguished Citizens of Santiago,

Ladies and Gentlemen.

I am overwhelmed by the honour you have bestowed on me by presenting me the key to the city of Santiago. I convey my sincere thanks to you, Hon'ble Mayor, to your distinguished colleagues in the City Council and to the people of this great city for this gesture.

Hon'ble Principal,

Excellencies and

Dear Students

Professor V�ctor P�rez Vera,

Rector of the University of Chile,

Members of the Diplomatic Corps,

Ladies and Gentlemen.

I consider it a privilege to be here with you today to participate in the Valedictory function of the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the Kerala Legislative Assembly. On this occasion, I would like to extend my warmest greetings to the people of Kerala. Celebrating democracy is always a matter of great pride for India.

I am pleased to participate in the centenary celebrations of Shri R Shankar, who was the Chief Minister of Kerala during the most turbulent periods in the political history of the State. Besides being a towering political leader and a great statesman, he was an able administrator and an ideal teacher, advocate, social worker and journalist, who exhibited unusual courage to take decisions without fear or favour.

It gives me immense pleasure to participate in the function for the presentation of the National Safety Awards in Mines for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006. At the outset, I congratulate every individual award winner for the exemplary work done in the area of mine safety. These awards, instituted by the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment in the year 1983, are tokens of appreciation and recognition by the nation for your extraordinary performance in the area of mine safety.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

At the outset let me convey my hearty congratulations to all those who have been conferred the National Awards for Nurses, most appropriately named as the Florence Nightingale Awards.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It gives me great pleasure to be participating in the Convocation of the Sher-I-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences in this beautiful city of Srinagar. I am also delighted to be in Jammu and Kashmir on my first visit here since I assumed the office of the President of India last year.