A future PM is learning his first lessons of diplomacy at IIMUN: Rishab Shah

While most 24-year olds are busy coming up with schemes to make money, Rishabh Shah is dedicated to getting India its rightful place on the international stage. It's not new for a social entrepreneur to be patriotic, but raising the national flag in the UN headquarters with 200 of the country's brightest minds is nothing short of inspiring.

Shah's Indian International lMUN (IIMUN) became the world's first and only external civil society organisation to hold a full-fledged model UN conference inside the UN headquarters in New York from August 15-17. The speakers at the IIMUN USA conference included Dr Kaushik Basu, Senior Vice-president and Chief Economist of the World Bank, and Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin, permanent representative of India to the UN.

Launched five years ago, the IIMUN has hosted 108 model UN conferences and has reached out to five million students. Of these, a talented group was handpicked to represent India in New York, and ideate on how to get a permanent seat on the security council.

Shah believes providing such platforms to the youth and encouraging them to rediscover India's glorious past, along with the current geopolitical realities of the world, will help train tomorrow's leaders.


MEA's Syed Akbaruddin presents Rishab Shah with a memento at the UN headquarters (Image: BCCL)

The youngster says he is motivated by the idea of “creating global leaders with an Indian mindset.“ “For all you know, a future PM is learning his first lesson soft diplomacy here,“ he said