Harsha Vardhan Shringla is a household Indian name. Donning many crucial roles, Shringla's four decades of outstanding service and selfless contributions have been duly recognised and awarded. At a special event organised in Jodhpur, Shringla was honoured with a lifetime achievement award.
The lifetime achievement award was presented to Harsh Vardhan Shringla by BMVSS, the parent organisation of Jaipur foot USA for his contributions, which range from supporting Jaipur Foot camps, helping people stressed by COVID pandemic, being available for Indian diaspora as ambassador to the US, his role as the Foreign Secretary of India, helping Indians amid Ukraine crisis and his instrumental role in resolving the OCI issues. Given his extensive service for the welfare of people, he is fondly called "people's ambassador" and people's "foreign secretary." The MEA even approved the acceptance authorised Shringla to accept the award by BMVSS.
At the event, Shringla, who is now the Chief Coordinator of India's G20 Presidency, was felicitated generously. On behalf of Vader Charitable Trust, Prem Bhandari, Padam Vader and Traffic's ADCP Chen Singh Mahecha presented a customised clock to Shringla. Padam Vader, the founder of Vader Charitable which distributes hundreds of lunch and dinner meals to needy seniors in Jodhpur regardless of cast, had played a major role in distributing oxygen concentrators across India, which were sent by Jaipur Foot USA and BMVSS. Chen Singh Mahecha played a crucial role in the success of the event.
Display of exemplary service
Harsh Vardhan Shringla's contributions are proof that he is the epitome of selfless contributions. Besides reigning the G20 Presidency affairs with precision and leading as the Foreign Secretary of India prior to that, Shringla, in his four-decade-long Indian Foreign Service career, served as the Ambassador to the United States of America, Bangladesh and Thailand. He was also Consul General of India in Durban, South Africa and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
He has worked on major diplomatic geographies and issues. His experience of the neighbourhood, important in the era of 'Neighbourhood First' diplomacy, is extensive. He is an experienced multilateral diplomat, having worked on two UN Security Council tenures, served in the Indian Mission to the UN in New York and as Permanent Representative to UNESCAP. He has headed both the UN Political and SAARC Divisions in headquarters.
He has managed key economic diplomacy initiatives; worked on overseas Indian issues and with the diaspora, including on events such 'Howdy Modi'; and coordinated major evacuation and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief operations such as Operations Vande Bharat, Sagar (pandemic HADR) Ganga (Ukraine), Devi Shakti (Afghanistan) and Insaniyat (Bangladesh). Having studied a subject on conflict prevention at Columbia University, he's great at it.
He has addressed a wide range of institutions and interest groups, including think tanks, Universities and business associations in India and abroad. He has also written extensively for leading publications worldwide.
A VIP affair
The event, which was organised by BMVSS, Jaipur Foot USA and Vader Charitable Trust, witnessed the presence of highly-influential persons, including Padma Bhushan chief patron and founder of BMVSS, D. R. Mehta; former chairman of 7th Pay Commission and SC judge Ashok Mathur; former Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court Govind Mathur; former Chief Justice of Jharkhand HC Prakash Tatia; Rajasthan HC senior judge Arun Bhansali; Justice Vineet Mathur Addl DGP vigilance Rajasthan Biju Joseph, IPS; Rahul Barath, senior IPS officer; and Himanshu Gupta, Jodhpur District Collector.
In a display of true generosity, Rajasthan Foundation Of North America president K.K. Mehta and his wife of Jodhpur-origin Chandra Mehta, who is based in New York, donated Rs 1 crore from their family trust for an old-age home "Vraddhashram" in Jodhpur. The cheque was given to D.R. Mehta, whose organisation BMVSS will be responsible for the construction of Vraddhashram.
D.R. Mehta welcomed Shringla in the traditional Rajasthani way and Bhandari presented a bouquet of flowers. As a part of the celebration, a specially-prepared peda cake was cut by Shringla in presence of all the dignitaries.
