Six Veteran International Diplomats Honoured With the Diwali “Power of One Award”

United Nations: Six veteran international diplomats have been honoured with the Diwali “Power of One Award” for their work at the global organization for “a more perfect, peaceful and secure world for all”. The awards were presented on Tuesday here at an event that also commemorated the issuance of Diwali stamps by the UN Postal Administration in October and by the US Postal Service in 2016.

India’s Permanent Representative Syed Akbaruddin, who called it an “ode to diversity and multiculturalism”, said the work of the honourees reflected the UN’s collective determination to promote peace. The awards were cosponsored by 26 UN missions, the Observer of Palestine and the International Atomic Energy Agency and the event was co-hosted by the missions of India, Belaraus and Georgia, and the Diwali Foundation USA. Vietnam’s Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Phuong Nga, who had earlier served as her country’s permanent representative at the UN, was among the awardees from three continents.

The chair of the Diwali Foundation USA, Ranju Batra, dedicated the ceremony to late US President George H.W. Bush, who died last month. Belarus Permanent Representative Valentin Rybakov said that Diwali’s spirit of peace and charity was in “lockstep with the ideals” of the UN.

Thailand’s US Ambassador Virachai Plasai was honoured for his leadership while he was at the UN of the Group of 77 that represents developing countries and is the largest bloc there. (IANS)

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