New Delhi: Former Indian diplomat Amit Dasgupta has been appointed Honorary Member in the General Division of the Order of Australia (AM) for tirelessly promoting India-Australia bilateral relationship.
“Congratulations Mr Amit Dasgupta AM for your appointment as an Honorary Member, General Division, Order of Australia (AM). Honoured to confer this award, on behalf of Australia’s Governor-General, to @amit_adg for his longstanding contribution to the Australia-India bilateral relationship,” Sarah Storey, Australia’s Deputy High Commissioner to India, tweeted.
Congratulations @amit_adg! Your tireless support to the Australia-India bilateral relationship over the years is so worthy of this national recognition, Australian High Commissioner to India, Barry O’Farrel, tweeted.
As Consul-General of India to Sydney from 2009 to 2012, he was awarded a gold medal by the Multicultural Commission of the New South Wales government for promoting multiculturalism and harmony.
During this period, attacks against Indian students threatened Australia’s international reputation. Dasgupta’s personal efforts diffused the tensions and reassured the Indian diaspora.
Dasgupta played a pivotal role in establishing the Australia India Youth Dialogue. Now in its second decade, the Dialogue is a permanent fixture of the bilateral relationship, and fosters connections between Australian and Indian young people.
He continues to advance relations between the two countries as a Distinguished Fellow of the Australia India Institute, a Senior Fellow at the Society for Policy Studies, and as the Inaugural Country Director of the University of New South Wales since 2016.
Dasgupta’s deep and longstanding service to the Australia-India bilateral relationship is commendable and worthy of formal national recognition through his appointment as an Honorary Member in the General Division of the Order of Australia (AM).
A published author and educator, Dasgupta has served in various capacities in India and abroad in the course of his diplomatic career, including Cairo, Brussels, Kathmandu, Berlin and Sydney.
–IANS