By George, look who’s beating a retreat!

New Delhi, January 29 The corridors of power at South Block got a taste of Hollywood glamour when actor George Clooney came visiting on Tuesday to hail India’s contribution to the UN peace missions in Africa. Clooney, named the UN Messenger of Peace earlier this month, met senior officers in the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of External Affairs.

The actor later went to the ‘Beating Retreat’, which brought the curtains down on the 59th Republic Day celebrations.

Accompanied by UN Assistant Secretary General for Mission Support Jane Holl Lute, the Oscar winner appreciated the role of Indian peacekeepers in Africa during meetings with Defence Secretary Vijay Singh, Secretary (Economic Relations) in MEA K C Singh, and Vivek Katju, Additional Secretary (International Operations) in MEA.

The actor also managed to persuade India to take part in a Contingent Owned Equipment (COE) Manual Review Exercise to be held at New York from next month.