Rosenfield Program Hosts Former Foreign Secretary of India and U.S. Ambassador Harsh Vardhan Shringla to Speak on Campus
The Grinnell College Rosenfield Program is happy to announce that former Foreign Secretary of India and U.S. Ambassador Harsh Vardhan Shringla will be speaking on campus on Thursday, April 20 at 6 p.m. The event, titled "Looking Toward the Future: India, China, and the U.S.," will take place at HSSC*A2231 (Auditorium).
Ambassador Shringla's visit to Grinnell College is part of the Rosenfield Program's ongoing efforts to provide students with opportunities to engage with global leaders and explore complex issues related to international relations, diplomacy, and foreign policy.
During his talk, Ambassador Shringla will discuss the future of the relationship between India, China, and the U.S. Given his extensive experience in foreign affairs and his previous service as the Indian Ambassador to the United States, Ambassador Shringla is uniquely positioned to provide insights into the current state of international relations.
Ambassador Shringla will field questions from Grinnell College faculty members, Tamara McGavock from the Economics department and Wayne Moyer from the Political Science department, as well as alumnus Sanjay Khanna '85.
This event is free and open to the public. The Rosenfield Program encourages all attendees to take advantage of this opportunity to engage with a distinguished diplomat and learn more about the complex issues facing our world today.
About Harsh Vardhan Shringla
Harsh Vardhan Shringla is the Chief Coordinator of India’s G20 Presidency. Prior to this, he was Foreign Secretary of India.
In a four-decade long Indian Foreign Service career, he has been Ambassador to the United States of America, Bangladesh and Thailand. He was also Consul General of India in Durban, South Africa and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
He has worked on all major diplomatic geographies and issues during these four decades. His experience of the neighbourhood, important in the era of ‘Neighbourhood First’ diplomacy, is extensive. He is also an experienced multilateral diplomat, having worked on two UN Security Council tenures, served in the Indian Mission to the UN in New York and as Permanent Representative to UNESCAP. He has headed both the UN Political and SAARC Divisions in headquarters.
He has managed key economic diplomacy initiatives; worked on overseas Indian issues and with the diaspora, including on events such ‘Howdy Modi’; and coordinated major evacuation and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief operations such as Operations Vande Bharat, Sagar (pandemic HADR) Ganga (Ukraine), Devi Shakti (Afghanistan) and Insaniyat (Bangladesh). He has an interest in conflict prevention, a subject on which he has pursued a course at Columbia University.
He has worked in the private and public sectors in India prior to joining the Indian Foreign Service.
He has addressed a wide range of institutions and interest groups, including think tanks, Universities and business associations in India and abroad. He has also written extensively for leading publications worldwide.
He has an avid interest in the outdoors and in sports. He has undergone professional courses at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi and participated in several mountaineering expeditions. He has an interest in field hockey, having played at university.