Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Vice President Jusuf Kalla arrived Sunday afternoon in New Delhi for a five-day visit to attend an international conference on Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi's teachings and to drum up investment in Indonesia.
The two-day conference, which will be begin on Monday, and will be attended by prime ministers and senior politicians from several countries, is part of the centenary celebrations of Gandhi's non-violent ""truth force"" or passive resistance movement (Satyagraha), which ushered in the end of British colonial rule in 1947.
Foreign Ministry director for Central and South Asian affairs Mohamad Asruchin said Kalla would speak about Indonesia's experience in handling conflicts in Aceh, Poso and Ambon at the conference, ""Peace, Non-Violence And Empowerment: Gandhi Philosophy in the 21st Century"".
Delegates from 87 countries are expected to attend, including South Africa's anti-apartheid hero Bishop Desmond Tutu, last year's Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh, and Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto.
""After addressing the conference, Pak Kalla will meet several Indian leaders, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi to discuss bilateral relations between Indonesia and India,"" Asruchin told The Jakarta Post by telephone from New Delhi.
Kalla's entourage includes Industry Minister Fahmi Idris, State Minister of Culture and Tourism Jero Wacik, Investment Coordinating Board chief M. Lutfi and businessman Chairul Tanjung.
Asruchin said the Vice President would also meet with several Indian businesspeople.
Antara reported Kalla would meet with representatives of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Jindal Steel and Power Limited. Kalla will also visit Mittal Steel and receive representatives from Essar International, TATA Group, and the Bank of India.
Kalla is also scheduled to visit Rajghat, where Gandhi was buried, and the world famous Taj Mahal in Agra before going to a natural gas power plant in Hyderabad.
Earlier, Fahmi said Kalla would lobby Mittal Steel and Essar, two of India's giant steel companies, to build two factories in South Kalimantan.
It has been reported Essar is planning to build an iron ore processing factory for US$500 million in the province. It is also expected that Mittal, the world's largest steel producer, will become involved in the province.
Fahmi said the government was planning to offer tax holidays along with other incentives to the two companies.
Kalla earlier said the national steel industry was not efficient because it was heavily dependent on imported materials and limited gas supplies.
South Kalimantan is an ideal place for processing iron ore into raw steel because the province has large reserves of gas and is a national supplier.
