The Ministry of External Affairs and Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday, December 15, hosted 72 Heads of Mission – Ambassadors and High Commissioners – in Prayagraj. This visit was planned for them to witness the preparedness of the grand Kumbh Mela to be held next month in Prayagraj. Prayagraj Kumbh Mela is an occasional event and this time it will take place at Triveni Sangam in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj next year starting from January 15 till March. General VK Singh, Minister of State in Ministry of External Affairs, led the delegation of diplomats on their Saturday visit.

In a report by Zee News, Dean of Diplomatic Corps Frank Hans Dannenberg Castellanos said that the one-day visit was very well planned and organised by the Yogi Adityanath government as well the Ministry of External Affairs. Commending External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Castellanos reportedly said, “Kudos to the chief of protocol, MEA MOS General VK Singh, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for having the vision for this group visit by the head of mission to go to Kumbh Mela and personally experience what so many of our citizens come to India to experience.”

Castellanos is the Ambassador of Dominican Republic to India. He praised the entire MEA staff and said that said that all the heads of Mission were satisfied as the MEA staff went beyond their call of duty to make the visit a successful one. Castellanos also added that the visit will boost the confidence of the visitors of the Kumbh Mela next year. He said that the Uttar Pradesh government was working with the Centre in developing the facilities and the area of the Kumbh Mela.

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Castellanos also thanked PM Narendra Modi, saying, “It was a personal decision of him to make sure that we as heads of mission posted in India have this experience.” Interestingly, in the year 2017, the Kumbh Mela was inscribed by UNESCO on the list of “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity”.