New Delhi, Feb 6 (IANS): UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay on Thursday hailed the Indian government for successfully promoting girls' education in the country and said that India has influenced the vision and objectives of the world body through the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi.

Commending India for successfully promoting education of girls in the country, Azoulay, who is on a three-day visit to India, told media here, "India has influenced the vision and objectives of UNESCO through the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi."

She also expressed confidence that India and UNESCO would carry forward this relationship further to realize their shared objectives.

Terming her earlier meeting with the Minister of Human Resource Development Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank as a very fruitful one, she said, she was very happy to note India's efforts at making quality education available to every section of the society.

Azoulay had met Nishank on Tuesday, when the two sides discussed the initiatives being taken by India in the education sector.

Pokhriyal informed the UNESCO DG that the Gross Enrolment Ratio of girls in the country had, for the first time, surpassed that of boys across various levels.

Nishank also talked at length about the various schemes such as Nishtha, Leap, ODB-Smart Classroom, Dhruv, Swayam Moocs portal that India has taken up.

This is Azoulay first official visit to India after she took charge as the DG of the world body.

On Tuesday, Azoulay visited Raj Ghat after arriving in Delhi to pay her respects to Mahatma Gandhi and met Nishank, and the two signed an agreement on the education sector.