Hon’ble Governor of West Bengal Dr. C.V. Ananda Bose soft-launches the book Not An Accidental Rise: Harsh Vardhan Shringla
April 04, 2023, Darjeeling: The Hon’ble Governor of West Bengal Dr. C.V. Ananda Bose soft-launched the book Not An Accidental Rise: Harsh Vardhan Shringla in Darjeeling on April 03, 2023. Written by Dr Dipmala Roka, the book recounts the life and career trajectory of Former Foreign Secretary of India and currently the Chief Coordinator for India’s G20 Presidency Shri Harsh Vardhan Shingla. As India’s G20 Presidency reaches every state and region of the country, with more than 200 meetings in over 50 cities, the book comes at an appropriate moment to understand the making of the man at the helm of organising the biggest diplomatic event in the history of India. The book attempts to chart the extremely diverse professional “portfolio” of the distinguished diplomat who brings insight and experience in virtually all of India’s major diplomatic accounts.
While delivering his address on the occasion, the Hon’ble Governor of West Bengal stated, “This motivational book should be useful to the youth of Bengal, and of course, to the youth of India”. He also urged that the lives of dedicated public servants such as Shri Harsh Vardhan Shringla can instill a sense of responsibility and desirable leadership qualities in the youth. As the 2nd meeting of the Tourism Working Group is also about to conclude in Darjeeling, Hon’ble Governor hailed Shri Harsh Vardhan Shringla, who belongs to Darjeeling, by saying “He was sent by Darjeeling to go and see the world, and now, he is bringing the world to Darjeeling”.
In his address, Shri Harsh Vardhan Shringla emphasised the role of youth in making India a developed country by the year 2047. He also said that the book is intended to reach out to the younger generation.
Shri Harsh Vardhan Shringla had joined the Indian Foreign Service at the relatively young age of 22. In the early days of his career, he was posted in Vietnam, and then deployed in the Europe West Division that oversaw India’s relations with major European countries. Later, he was promoted and moved to one of the “heaviest” territorial units in the Ministry of External Affairs, the Northern Division, which covers India’s relations with Nepal and Bhutan. Subsequently, during his next posting in Tel Aviv he worked on India’s relations with Israel before entering the world of multilateral diplomacy when he was appointed to the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations at New York. During his longest stint at Headquarters as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, he successively managed the SAARC, UN Political, and BSM (Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Maldives) Divisions.
The task of condensing a lifetime of learning and evolution of the G20 Chief Coordinator Shri Harsh Vardhan Shringla has been undertaken by Dr. Dipmala Roka, who is an Assistant Professor in the Department of International Relations at Sikkim University, Gangtok. In her address she stated, “This book has been written to inspire everyone to believe in themselves as Shri Harsh Vardhan Shringla has done”. Appealing to the title in preface to the book, Dipmala Roka writes, ”It is not an accidental rise. It is the story of each promotion being built on the achievements of the last”, as she reflects upon the sheer grit and hard work that went into chiseling a noteworthy diplomatic career.