The G20 summit has brought glory to India. The impeccable planning and clinical execution has won applause from world over. Behind the success of this summit is more than a year of toil and hard work of officers of Indian Foreign Service ( IFS ) who worked day-night in scripting the triumph of Indian diplomacy.
Of course the summit could not have been possible without prime minister Narendra Modi, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, external affairs minister S Jaishankar, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, principal secretary to PM P K Mishra, G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant, former foreign secretary and coordinator for G20 Harsh Vardhan Shringla and special secretary G20 Muktesh K Pardeshi.
However, going down the order few people know the contribution of IFS officers, who were handpicked for the job and they just proved their mettle.
Abhay Thakur
A 1992 batch IFS officer and additional secretary of G20, Thakur is considered to be one of the best negotiators and the most intelligent officer. He has been entrusted with the job of keeping close watch on negotiations and work towards reaching a consensus. A former High Commissioner to Mauritius and Nigeria, Thakur has been in the thick of action. Very few people realise the efforts and ideas behind the glitz of this G20 global summit which has put india on top of the world map.
Nagaraj Naidu Kakanur
A 1998 batch IFS officer, Kakanur is one of the pillars of organising team of G20 as joint secretary. A career diplomat, Nagaraj has served as Chef de Cabinet to the President of the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. Prior to this, he was the Deputy Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations from January 2019. Kakanur is a fluent Chinese speaker and has served in China in four separate stints. His opinion on Chinese issues are taken seriously by the government.
Eenam Gambhir
A 2005 batch IFS officer is serving as joint secretary of G20. In her position in the G20 Secretariat she deals with handling G20 related issues including the preparations for India's G20 Presidency. Before this, she served as a Senior adviser on Peace and Security issues in the Office of the President of the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at the UN HQ in New York.
She rose to prominence in Indian media outlets after she condemned the actions of Pakistan in United Nation's assembly. Gambhir attacked Pakistan on the topic of sponsorship of terrorism. She stated that “the land of Taxila, the greatest site of learning in ancient India, is now host to the Ivy league of terrorists around the globe. Gambhir is fluent in Hindi, English and Spanish and writes poetry in all three languages.
Ashish Kumar Sinha
A 2005 batch IFS officer, Sinha is serving as joint secretary of G20. He keeps a close monitoring of day to day activity in G20 summit with the help of eight officers in his team. Previously he has served as deputy High Commissioner to Kenya. A tough task master, his contribution in the success of G20 is quite remarkable .
Ram Kumar Kaushik is a seasoned journalist with over 25 years of experience across mediums. The architect of this news website, he is also a consultant with several media groups. He was formerly the group managing editor of ITV Network (NewsX, India News and The Sunday Guardian) and its digital products.
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