Hon. Kartar Bhalla in his thank you speech at the Conference said:
I am overwhelmed by the compliments paid by Hon. Arnold Foote while awarding me the Medal of Distinction, a unique honour conferred on an honorary consul. It was he who spotted me at the end of Montego Bay World Congress of Consuls in 2006 and offered me my first assignment as Chairman, FICAC South Asia Regional Committee. And since then, he has never allowed me to look back.
The first FICAC assignment helped me discover myself and my potential as an international player. I reached out to all the eight countries in South Asia and, thanks to Arnold’s support and guidance, I succeeded in setting up consular associations in Lahore, Karachi, Nepal, Bangladesh, and in affiliating them to FICAC. Bhutan also came into FICAC through its Honorary Consul for Thailand as Associate Member. Sri Lanka’s association with FICAC was strengthened.
For the first time, I appeared on the FICAC forum in Athens in 2003 when my maiden appearance was an encouraging and satisfying experience. In Athens General Assembly, my resolution proposing use of honorific title of “Honourable” before the names of honorary consuls was accepted unanimously. I am glad to observe that this title has gained currency and it is now used by honorary consuls for each other. If for nothing else, I am sure, my colleagues would remember me for this honorific title when I am no longer on the scene.
FICAC and Hon. Arnold Foote helped me discover another feature in myself. I did not know I could make a speech. They made me a speaker and did me honour after honour by inviting me to deliver as many as eight keynote speeches in conferences held in Athens, Prague, Accra, Monaco (twice), Izmir, and Brussels (twice).
Drafting of international documents was another uncharted field for me, in which I entered under Arnold’s inspiration and didn’t do a bad job. Izmir Declaration and Guidelines for Honorary Consuls were appreciated by honourable members. Compilation of Who’s Who was a strenuous but not a new job for me and I sailed through two editions of FICAC Who’s Who – 2009 and 2012 – without much difficulty. What gladdened me was that the two publications added a sum of US$12,564.00 into the kitty of FICAC.
Disparity between career consuls and honorary consuls had been engaging everybody’s attention since Accra Conference in 2008. FICAC agreed with me over the need for review of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations 1963. In Monaco regional conference 2009, after listening to my presentation, FICAC entrusted me with the task of drafting amendments to the Vienna Convention, a resolution and a Petition to United Nations for review of Vienna Convention, which were adopted at the Monaco Regional Conference and sent to UN Secretary General and to Foreign Ministers of all countries.
FICAC has been generous enough in acknowledging my work and presenting me with two Medals of Honour and four Plaques of Honour in appreciation of good work. Sometimes I felt that, instead of FICAC giving me Plaques of Honour, I should have given FICAC Plaque of Thanks for having helped me discover my potential.
With your permission, Hon. Arnold Foote, I am retiring from the Chairmanship of South Asia Region, with full sense of achievement, satisfaction and fulfilment. I assure you, regardless of retirement, my services for any special assignment, whenever needed, will be at your disposal.
Hon. President Arnold Foote, thank you for your guidance, without which I could not have done what I have done; Hon. Directors, thank you for your co-operation without which the quality of my work would not have been as satisfactory as, I think, it has been; Hon. Members, thank you for your appreciation, without which I could not have kept going; Permanent Secretariat, thank you for your unstinted support.
