G20 outcome under India’s Presidency will be unprecedented: Harsh Shringla

New York: The G20 outcome under India’s Presidency will be unprecedented, veteran diplomat Harsh Vardhan Shringla has said as he underlined that the international community sees India as one country that is up to the challenge of providing solutions to current global problems.

The G20 is the "most significant" international event India has hosted since its independence, Shringla, the Chief Coordinator of India's G20 Presidency and former Foreign Secretary, said here.

He addressed prominent members of the Indian-American and diaspora community on Tuesday at the launch event of his biography ‘Not An Accidental Rise’.

Former US ambassador to India Kenneth Juster and Consul General of India in New York Randhir Jaiswal were among the special guests at the event hosted by Jaipur Foot USA, a subsidiary of Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS).

India assumed the year-long presidency of the G20 on December 1 last year and is hosting over 200 meetings and related events in cities across the country that will culminate in a global Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi in September.

The summit will be attended by over 40 Heads of State, Heads of Government and international organisations.

A G20 Leaders’ Declaration will be adopted at the conclusion of the New Delhi Summit, stating “Leaders’ commitment towards the priorities discussed and agreed upon during the respective ministerial and working group meetings.” “I have no doubt that the Summit that India will host and the outcome that we will deliver at the time of the G20 will be unprecedented,” Shringla said.

He said the world is currently facing difficult times where the only certainty is uncertainty.

"Many of our partners in the international community feel that if there is one country that is up to the challenge of providing solutions to global situations that have emerged today, it is India,” he said.

India will deliver in entirety to the international community's expectations, in particular the Global South, of which "we are a part and have been a voice of,” he said.

Shringla also highlighted that about 100 G20 meetings have already been hosted across India with each meeting witnessing rejuvenation of that particular city and region, urban transformation and beautification.

It witnessed involvement at the public and grassroots level of people who have never known what G20 is, but known this is something big for India and are happy to be a part of the effort, he said.

“Bringing G20 to the grassroots level through ‘Jan Bhagidari’ has been a major objective and one that has been achieved quite well,” he said.

Earlier this month, the book ‘Not An Accidental Rise’, written by Assistant Professor, Department of International Relations, Sikkim University, Gangtok Dr Dipmala Roka was launched in Darjeeling.

Shringla noted that the book is a “well researched” and “candid” account “not just of my career, but my entire life, so far.” Shringla, who was India’s ambassador to the US and later the Foreign Secretary when Juster was Washington’s envoy in New Delhi from 2017–2021, recalled working very closely with his American counterpart on a host of issues, including some challenging situations.

“It was a difficult time. There was shock upon shock. We not only had the Covid-19 crisis, we also had multiple transgressions on our western border from our neighbour China.

"We had a shock on our western borders that is Afghanistan and “another shock on the eastern border with the situation in Myanmar as well as the Ukraine conflict," he said.

Juster recalled working closely with Shringla on a range of issues, with the ‘Howdy Modi’ event in 2019 being among the "most notable” when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then US President Donald Trump addressed over 50,000 people from the diaspora community in a stadium in Houston.

Juster added that he and Shringla also cooperated and worked together during the Covid-19 crisis, as well as during the Chinese standoff.

“It has always been a tremendous privilege to work with someone who has represented his own country extremely well and with someone you can discuss issues candidly and you can work together to solve problems in the best interest of both of our countries,” Juster said.

Jaipur Foot USA Chairman Prem Bhandari described Shringla as the “People’s Ambassador” and the “People’s Foreign Secretary”.

Bhandari expressed gratitude for the consistent support Shringla provided to the millions of people of Indian origin in America as well as around the world, particularly during crises such as the Covid pandemic, on issues related to OCI cards and evacuation of Indians from Ukraine in the aftermath of the conflict.

“He is the darling of 40 million NRIs throughout the world,” Bhandari said.

Shringla noted that the book also deals with the aspect of people-to-people ties between India and the US.

“The community has been our mainstay and main support. Much of what we have achieved, from the nuclear deal to what we have achieved in the recent past, can be attributed to the wholehearted support from the Indian-American community,” Shringla said.

Shringla also lauded Bhandari’s efforts to help the community, saying he has been a “pillar of support” during difficult times, particularly during the devastating years of the Covid-19 pandemic when Bhandari helped send much-needed ventilators and concentrators to India.