June 24 was a landmark day for women diplomats all over the world as they got a day earmarked especially for them. The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution to designate June 24 as the ‘International Day of Women in Diplomacy’. Women diplomats of India were quick to join their counterparts in other parts of the world in welcoming this step.
We take a look at the significance of the day and, also, at a few Indian women diplomats who are keeping our flag flying high on the global level.
WOMEN DIPLOMATS REACT
Women diplomats of India reacted on this development, predictably rejoicing at the marking of a special day for them, and that too by the UN. Some of them took to social media site Twitter to express their appreciation.
India’s Ambassador to South Korea, Sripriya Ranganathan, a 1994-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, tweeted: “It’s great to have the UN declaring a day for Women in Diplomacy who have proved their mettle time and time and time again.”
In another tweet, she wrote: “Indian women in diplomacy have come a long way from the days of CB Muthamma, who was a trailblazer on multiple levels. Our diplomats of each generation have eased the path for those coming later. We have broken many barriers and glass ceilings though challenges still remain.”
Fresh into the service, 2021-batch IFS officer Mounica Devagudi tweeted a group photo of women IFS officers of her batch, marking it for “First International Day of Women in Diplomacy”.
TOP INDIAN WOMEN DIPLOMATS AT UN
As the women diplomats get a day of their own and the UN marked the ‘International Day of Women in Diplomacy’ for the first time on June 24, we present a list of top Indian woman diplomats making their mark in the world.
Sneha Dubey, India’s first secretary at the United Nations, is a 2012-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer. She made headlines and received praises for her response to the then Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan raking up the issue of Kashmir in his address to the UN General Assembly in September last year.
Ruchira Kamboj was appointed India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations on June 21. She will succeed T S Tirumurti. A 1987-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, she is currently serving as India’s envoy to Bhutan, the first woman to do so.
Vidisha Maitra, a 2009-batch IFS officer, helped India make a significant stride when she was elected to the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), a subsidiary organ of the General Assembly in November 2020. Her achievement came at a time when India was preparing to sit in the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member for a two-year term in January 2021.
Poulomi Tripathi, a former counsellor in India’s Permanent Mission to the UN, is a 2007-batch IFS officer who was lauded by many for calling out fake news when the then Pakistan Ambassador showed a picture of a girl from Palestine to the General Assembly, claiming that it was from Kashmir.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DAY
With this historic step, the United Nations reaffirmed that the participation of women, on equal terms with men, at all levels of decision-making is essential to the achievement of sustainable development, peace and democracy.
“As women climb the diplomatic ranks, they are outnumbered by their male peers, including at United Nations Headquarters, where they represent only one fifth of the permanent representative,” Thilmeeza Hussain, Maldives Ambassador to the United Nations, said on June 20, while introducing the resolution.
Abdulla Shahid, President of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly, who presided over the adoption of the resolution, said that women diplomats still suffer the deep-rooted legacies of sexism, which hinder their professional advancement and obscure their contributions and achievements.
“Women working in diplomacy have made critical contributions to shaping the multilateral system we have inherited today. Yet, despite the evident contributions of women to diplomacy and multilateral decision-making, they continue to be under-represented in senior diplomatic positions,” he said.
While wishing women diplomats all over the world a Happy International Day of Women in Diplomacy, Mr. Shahid, also, significantly, added: “Today we not only recognise those women who have blazed trails – but we look to a future where women play an increasingly important role in this important field.”
(Indian Masterminds congratulates all our women diplomats on getting their special day, and wishes them all the best as they continue keeping the Indian flag flying high on the global level.)
