INDIA’S outgoing Consul General in New York, Randhir Jaiswal, has said, he has endeavoured to“tell the world what India means to theworld today”as the Indian-American community members lauded his efforts to boost bilateralties and organised receptions to bid him farewell. Several diaspora organisations have been hosting farewell receptions in and around the city in honour of Jaiswal,whowill soon leave for Delhi where he will assume his new role as the Official Spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs. “Jaiswal said that as Consul General, he has endeavoured to “tell the world what India means to the world today. It is acountry which is progressing, which is reaching out to the moon, a country that is developing technologies that are going to define the pathway to the 21st century.

 

It is a country which believes in peace, non-violence, in the path shown by Mahatma Gandhi,” Jaiswal said at the farewell reception hosted in Long Island by community members Harish Thakkar and Ajay Patel on Sunday. Jaiswal joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1998 and has so far served in Portugal, Cuba, South Africa and at the Permanent Mission ofIndia to theUNinNewYork. He took up his assignment as Consul General of India in New York in July 2020, during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic and oversaw efforts to facilitate the travel of stranded and desperate Indian tourists, students and diaspora members back to India amid restrictions imposed due to the pandemic. “We have opened the doors of the Consulateso that we can connect with each one of you,” Jaiswal said, adding that the Consulate and his team have endeavoured to celebrate the diversity and achievements of India with the community and American society through myriad programmes and initiatives.