Six eminent diplomats from around the world have been honoured with 'The Diwali - Power of One' award, recognising their efforts at the United Nations to ensure a perfect, peaceful and secure world for all.
The 'The Diwali - Power of One' award has been established by NGO Diwali Foundation, USA, under the aegis of Ranju Batra, Chair of the Diwali Stamp Project, to celebrate and highlight the vital work done by eminent diplomats across the world, especially at the UN.
In its second year, the awards were given to former Permanent Representative of Greece to the UN Catherine Boura, the Permanent Representative of Tunisia to the UN Mohamed Khaled Khiari.
To the former Permanent Representative of Slovenia to the UN Andrej Logar, Azerbaijan's former envoy to the UN Agshin Mehdiyev, Vietnam's former Permanent Representative to the UN Nguyen Phuong Nga and Thailand's former Permanent Representative to the UN Virachai Plasai.
India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin said the event is an "ode to diversity and multiculturalism and a celebration of excellence at the United Nations."
"In many ways the celebration of Diwali at the UN reflects our collective commitment to promote peace, prosperity and dignity for all as envisaged in the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."
Dedicating the ceremony to late former US President George H W Bush, she said his signature movement "thousand points of light" is "Diwali everywhere."
She said the award is "essentially the Oscars of Diplomacy" honouring "world class diplomats" for their service and "lifetime of principled efforts" and have "truly achieved many victories of good over evil and light over darkness."
"Whatever the UN Charter dreams of, the Diwali Foundation's Power of One awardees have helped make it happen and make it a reality."
Eminent Indian-American attorney Ravi Batra said the awards celebrate and highlight the "vital and important work done across the world in a peaceful manner, especially at the United Nations."