November 2025

Instituted in 1986

The award, instituted in 1986, is administered by the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust, chaired by Sonia Gandhi. Other members of the Gandhi family including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are also members of the trust.

Award carries

cash purse of Rs 10 million along with a trophy made of Hematite Jasper, the same stone used in constructing the memorial of Indira Gandhi

Given for

given for promotion of global peace, disarmament, racial equality and economic cooperation among others.

First recipient - Parliamentarians for Global Action

The first recipient of the award, in 1986, was Parliamentarians for Global Action, an international collective of legislators from various countries, in recognition of its “tenacious espousal of nuclear disarmament”.

1986 - Mikhail Gorbachev, General Secretary of Communist party of Soviet Union

In 1986, it went to Mikhail Gorbachev, the then general secretary of the Communist Party of Soviet Union, for his “vision of a non-violent world free of nuclear weapons”.

1993 - Vaclav Havel, former president of Czech republic

former President of the Czech Republic Vaclav Havel, who played a key role in toppling the Communist system in erstwhile Czechoslovakia, was awarded the prize in 1993.

Doctors Without Borders in 1996

1997 - Jimmy carter, former US President

in 1997, it went to former US President Jimmy Carter for his work in the area of disarmament and peace.

1998 - Mohammed Yunus

Yunus received it in 1998 for his contribution as the chairman of the Grameen Bank in the fight against poverty.

2007 - Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

In 2007, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was awarded for its “pioneering and exemplary philanthropic work around the world and in India”.

2008 - Mohammed El Baradei

Former Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed El Baradei, a Nobel Peace laureate, was the recipient of the prize in 2008

2009 - Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh

Eleven years later, in 2009, Hasina was the awardee for her contributions to the “promotion of democracy and pluralism and her determined drive to alleviate poverty”

2010

Gro Harlem Brundtland, a member of Norway’s Labour Party who served three terms as the country’s prime minister, former President of Namibia and anti-apartheid activist Sam Nujoma, and President of Brazil Lula da Silva in 2010.

2013 - Angela Merkel, former German Chancellor

in 2013, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel received it for her “exemplary leadership in Europe and the world during the financial crises, her stewardship of German economic growth and the promotion of global economic stability”.

ISRO in 2014

2025 - Michelle Bachelet, former Chile President

Bachelet is the 37th recipient of the award.

In 2019, commenting on the restrictions in Jammu and Kashmir in the aftermath of the abrogation of Article 370, Bachelet, then serving as the head of the UN Human Rights Council, had expressed deep concern about the “impact of recent actions by the Government of India on the human rights of Kashmiris”.

Bachelet had filed an application the next year, seeking to intervene as an amicus curiae in a litigation, then pending in the Supreme Court, against the CAA. The Centre had hit back, saying “no foreign party has any locus standi on issues pertaining to India’s sovereignty”.

Jury of the awards

Former National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon,
former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan,
former Planning Commission member Syeda Hameed,
former Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah,
former journalist Suman Dubey,
social activist Aruna Roy and
former Chief Economic Advisor Kaushik Basu