'Vajpayee among influential world leaders'

BEIJING, NOV. 29. The Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, has been selected as one of the 21 most influential world leaders by readers of a leading Chinese magazine. The 21 leaders were selected from almost 300 heads of State by readers of the Hong Kong-based Brilliant Chinese. The magazine, which held the contest on its website created specifically for it, introduced Mr. Vajpayee as ``the evergreen ivy in Indian political circles.''

``In the past 50 years, there has been an all-powerful person in the always changeable Indian political arena, who has been manoeuvred among various political groups and hacked his way through difficulties. That is India's Prime Minister, Mr. Vajpayee, one of those few veteran politicians in India,'' it said.

The website said the magazine's president and editor- in-chief, Mr. Wang Ku, has written to Mr. Vajpayee informing him of his selection. The Chinese President, Mr. Jiang Zemin, the U.S. President, Mr. Bill Clinton, the Russian President, Mr. Vladimir Putin, the French President, Mr. Jacques Chirac, the British Premier, Mr. Tony Blair and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong P iI are among the others who figured in the list.

The readers of the magazine, which is published in Asia, America and Europe, will now pick the top 10 most influential world leaders in 2000 out of the 21 candidates.

- PTI

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Section  : International
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