Bhopal : The spokesperson of Catholic Church in Madhya Pradesh, (North India) Father Anand Muttungal has been nominated by the US government to participate in its three week International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) commencing from April 17 to May 8 . He is one of the two selected for this programme. The priest’s nomination is in recognition to his efforts for building peace in the state. The International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) is the flagship professional exchange program of the Department Of State. The IVLP brings selected participants to the United States from countries all over the world each year to meet and confer with their professional counterparts and to experience the culture and diversity of the U.S. first hand. The visitors, who are current or potential leaders in government, politics, the media, education, and other fields, are selected by American Foreign Service Officers overseas. More than 200 current and former Heads of State, 1,500 cabinet-level ministers, and many other distinguished world leaders in government and the private sector have participated in the International Visitor Leadership Program since its founding in 1940. The President of India Pratibha Patil (1999 & 1986), Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (1981), former president K R Narayan (1969), former prime ministers Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1960), Indira Gandhi (1961) and Morarji Desai (1962) are among the prominent persons who participated in it. The programme is designed to have meetings, site visits, consultations, home hospitality, and focused cultural events for the participants. The IVLP seeks to provide each participant with a deeper understanding of the political, social, geographic, economic and cultural diversity of the United States thorough exposure programmes and the opportunity to develop fruitful and lasting contacts with U.S. counterparts. Reacting to the nomination, the priest said, “it was a surprise to me when I was told about it”. Since it is a US government’s own initiative one gets to know only after one’s selection. My selection to this international programme is no doubt, recognition of the services the Church renders for the people of the state. Whatever, I did was the duty assigned to me as a priest. The Church leaders have lauded the priest for his nomination to the IVLP. The Madya Pradesh Isai Mahasangh bid a warm farewell at the Bhopal Airport . This is not the first time that the priest gets such recognition for his peace efforts. The priest was bestowed with the Buddhist community’s highest award for World Peace and Harmony in January this year in an international Buddhist conclave. Similarly, in 2008 a literary organization—Adishakti Sahitya Kala Parishad—also honored Father Muttungal with an award for his peace efforts. In 2007, the Sikh governing body in the state — the Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee—honored him for his contribution toward promoting peace and harmony in the state.