India’s Congress Party chief Sonia Gandhi is among the top 10 most powerful people in the world, according to Forbes magazine, which placed Chinese President Hu Jintao on top of the list.
Mrs Gandhi, who is ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (18th), comes in ninth on the list of the World’s Most Powerful People released on Wednes-day. The other Indians who made it to the list are telecom mogul Sunil Mittal (44th) and industrialist Ratan Tata (61st). Chinese President Hu Jintao was named the most powerful person, ahead of US President Barack Obama, who topped last year’s rankings.
The magazine said the list comprises “the 68 who matter” of the 6.8 billion people on the planet. The Forbes 2010 list contains heads of state, major religious figures and entrepreneurs.
Forbes said they were chosen “because, in various ways, they bend the world to their will”. The top 10 also included King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al Saud of Saudi Arabia (3rd), Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (4th), Pope Benedict XVI (5th), German Chancellor Angela Merkel (6th), British Prime Minister David Cameron (7th) and US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke (8th).