Mumbai: Indian tennis ace Leander Paes has joined the Global Citizen India movement to end extreme poverty in the country by 2030. He will be a guest speaker at the gala on Saturday.

“I am so delighted to be invited to be a guest speaker at the Global Citizen's Concert. It is a great initiative and I commend the organisers for the awareness they bring to various issues of the world through this platform,” Paes said in a statement.

Paes will promote the cause of gender equality at the event, to be held at MMRDA Grounds, Bandra Kurla Complex here.

“In my career as a tennis player, I have played and won quite a few Grand Slam titles. But I especially cherish the ones with my mixed doubles partners. The way we complemented each other's strengths, made it so much more special and memorable. Our job was to put the ball in the other team's court,” Paes said.

“Who did it, didn't matter. We played to win each time we went out. We played as one. And we contributed equally to our success. Without my mixed doubles partners, I would be half as successful,” Paes said.

The inaugural Global Citizen Festival India will see participation from international as well as Indian celebrities, with British band Coldplay making their debut performance in the country.

Other celebrities lending their star power to the event are Jay Z, Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Ranveer Singh, Katrina Kaif, A.R. Rahman, Farhan Akhtar, Shraddha Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor, Arijit Singh, Dia Mirza, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Monali Thakur and cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar.

(Source: IANS)