Two Indian women rocking world politics
Meet Sneha Dubey, the feisty Indian First Secretary at the United Nations who surprised the world community this Friday with her engaging, meaningful, fiery and consummate reply to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, a day after he raked the J&K issue at the international platform.
A 2012 batch Indian Foreign Service officer, currently serving at the UN, Dubey countered Khan’s tirade with a measured but forceful response under the right of reply rules of the UN.
This is a country which (Pakistan) is an arsonist disguising itself as a Firefighter: Sneha Dubey, First Secretary at UNGA
— Prasar Bharati News Services पी.बी.एन.एस. (@PBNS_India) September 25, 2021
“This is the country (Pakistan) which is an arsonist, disguising itself as a fire-fighter. Pakistan nurtures terrorists in their backyard in the hope that they will only harm their neighbours. Our region, and in fact the entire world, has suffered because of their policies. On the other hand, they are trying to cover up sectarian violence in their country as acts of terror,” she told the delegates at the comity of nations.
Her response instantly went viral, making her a darling of the Twitterati and responders on other social media platforms, all of whom showered praise on what they said was a “courageous and apt” reply to Imran Khan and his country’s continued machinations in and around Jammu and Kashmir.
Dubey, who has served with the Ministry of External Affairs as Under Secretary (Digital Diplomacy) and the Indian embassy in Madrid previously, is the daughter of a school teacher mother and a father who works with a multinational company.
Twitter was particularly responsive to her reply, one of the saying: ““India’s women diplomats to the UN are brilliant. Eenam Gambhir, Vidisha Maitra and now this fiery right-of-reply by Sneha Dubey!”
BIDEN’S INDIAN AMERICAN ASSISTANT AT TALKS WITH MODI
On the other side of the spectrum, but not far away from world affairs, you could talk about Sumona Guha.
All of 49, she has been making waves as the only Indian American woman to be present at the bilateral talks between US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as special assistant to Biden who discussed with his Indian counterpart combating Covid-19, climate change, trade and Indo-Pacific issues.
Guha has been on the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff since August 2012 but was cherry-picked by Biden as Director, South and Central Asia, National Security Council, White House, in January 2021, soon after he took over the Presidency.
Previously, she was a Senior Advisor in the Office of the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. Guha has served as a Special Advisor for National Security Affairs in the Office of the Vice President, as a Foreign Affairs Fellow in the U.S. Senate, and as Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs.
She holds degrees from Georgetown and Johns Hopkins University and is considered to be one of the most influential Indian American women at Capitol Hill.
Her profile on her LinkedIn account lists 13 high profile jobs against her name with her career starting off as vice-president of the Albright Stonebridge Group.
She also boasts of expertise in US foreign policy towards Europe, Russia and South Asia and has adequate experience leading and managing professional teams. Besides, her expertise in advising companies on market entry and expansion, including political and regulatory strategies. Experience in Washington and overseas is much talked about.