MFA Press Statement: Visit of Minister for Foreign Affairs George Yeo to India, 1 to 5 Aug 2010

Minister for Foreign Affairs George Yeo will visit New Delhi, India from 1 to 5 August 2010 on a working visit and to participate in the 6th meeting of the Nalanda Mentor Group (NMG). He will be accompanied by officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

During the working visit, Minister Yeo is scheduled to meet his counterpart, Minister of External Affairs S M Krishna and other government leaders. The NMG is also scheduled to call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The NMG is set up by the Indian government to help to conceptualise the revival of the Nalanda University in Bihar, India. The ancient Nalanda University, established about 5th century AD or earlier, was pre-eminent for over seven centuries, and at its peak, hosted some 10,000 students from all over the world. The NMG is chaired by Nobel Laureate Professor Amartya Sen of Harvard University and comprises eminent individuals from government and academia [1] . The inaugural NMG meeting was held in Singapore in July 2007 while the fifth and previous Meeting was held in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, in February 2009. The upcoming meeting in New Delhi will discuss the implementation framework and operations of the proposed Nalanda University.

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[1] The members of the NMG are Professor Amartya Sen, Chairman of the Nalanda Mentor Group, Harvard University; Mr George Yeo, Singapore; Lord Meghnad Desai, London School of Economics; Professor Wang Bangwei, Beijing University; Professor Sugata Bose, Harvard University; Mr N K Singh, Member of the Rajya Sabha, India; and Professor Tansen Sen, Head of Nalanda Sriwijaya Centre, ISEAS. Mr George Yeo is a member of the NMG in his personal capacity.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
SINGAPORE
31 JULY 2010