“We take pride in the success of communities,” Atlanta CG Lakshmanan

Consul General of India in Atlanta, Ramesh Babu Lakshmanan and  Amit Kumar Sharma, Head-Americas, VFS Global interact with Jyothsna Hegde. / New India Abroad

The fourth Consul General of India in Atlanta, Ramesh Babu Lakshmanan summarised his priorities into three Cs and three Ts, including connecting with the community, student groups, and consular services along with trade, tourism and technology.

“I can sum up my priorities into three Cs - Connecting with Community, Consular Affairs, and Connecting with Students, and three Ts - Trade, Technology and Tourism,” he told New India Aborad in an exclusive interview as part of the publication’s newly launched series, Travel n’ Diplomacy.

 Amit Kumar Sharma, Head-Americas, VFS Global, the world’s largest outsourcing and technology service specialist that works with 68 countries to streamline passport, visa and consular services, also joined the conversation highlighting the support it extends to the consulate and its various initiatives to ensure seamless service, while addressing few common concerns of the Indian diaspora regarding these services.

A career diplomat, Ramesh Babu Lakshmanan comes with impressive experience in external affairs, having served in various positions at Indian Missions in nations including Tajikistan, Russia, France, and Sri Lanka. He holds a master’s degree in science faculty. Before joining as Consul General of India in Atlanta, he served in the Ministry of External Affairs in various capacities. Most recently, he was the operational expert for the G20 Summit held in India before heading the ‘Rapid Response Division’ and the Control Room for “Operation Ganga” which worked to evacuate Indian citizens stranded in Ukraine after the 2022 Russian invasion. 

In the interview, he spoke about his priorities, goals, and insights on the Indian diaspora, culled from his varied postings and meetings. Summarizing his priorities as 3 Cs and Ts, the Consul General highlighted the Cs as: “We take pride in the success of communities,” Lakshmanan said, emphasizing the important role communities play in relationships between nations. “They (communities) are truly our ambassadors,” he noted.

Consular services, he said, play an important role in serving the needs of these communities.  It is important, he remarked, to explore avenues to improve services where needed with technology to render it “robust and user friendly”. “I want to particularly focus on connecting with Indian students, Indian diaspora students and the youngsters (second and third gen),” Lakshmanan said. Applauding the active involvement of Indian American kids in cultural events, he said he is very interested in “understanding their perspective, and aspirations.”

The Ts: “We are also exploring the avenues within my jurisdiction that can further build trade between India and Southeast Georgia,” Lakshmanan said, adding that he had been meeting leaders from the region. Apart from the traditional, new areas such as electric vehicles, the film industry and logistics, he noted have the potential to increase trade between the two nations. He also spoke about the port of Savannah that ensures direct trade between India and the US.

It may be noted that the inaugural ship on Ocean Network Express’ West India North America (WIN) service, docked at the Port of Savannah on June 18, creating a new link between India and Georgia Ports, a recognition of India’s growing role as a manufacturing hub. Tourism, a key focus of his agenda, he said plays a crucial role in fostering international goodwill and cultural exchange.

Chalo India initiative by the Ministry of Tourism he noted, encourages the Indian diaspora to serve as ambassadors for Incredible India, when, through the program, they are encouraged to invite five or more non-Indian friends to visit India. “Technology is the defining relationship of the 21st century,” Lakshmanan remarked, adding that he frequents universities, meeting professors and scientists there, to learn the latest trends that can be potentially partnered with, for mutual benefits. 

Given the burgeoning Indian diaspora in the area, what enhancements does the new CG foresee for consular services?

 A consorted effort on improving emergency services Laxmanan said, is a key focus area. While it is not officially mentioned as such, for emergency services, he said the consulate is open all through the year. In addition, emergency numbers are provided and in case of emergencies, the offices will be opened on weekends as well.

As for Routine services, he said providing consular services at the doorstep and holding consular camps at various locations is very helpful, especially in avoiding postal delays and most importantly, clarifying procedural processes and documentation-related questions the community faces. “The biggest success of the consular camps is that you can directly explain the process to the community. We can train the community leaders there, so they become well-versed in the process.” 

In order to address questions about the OCI Application process, which comes up many times, he said, the consulate is planning to come out with a professional video with step-by-step instructions. The video is expected to be released in a couple of weeks. The consul general also highlighted that there is no need for physical visits to the consulate for application, and most services can be availed through the postal system, with the option of sending the applicant’s choice of prepaid courier to ensure quick response times.

“We are also trying to go to areas where not many consular camps are held,” he said. He added that they are systematically identifying small towns within his jurisdiction with a fairly large spread of the diaspora for these camps. Reaching out to the community be it through technology, social media, WhatsApp, Facebook and such, he added is an important aspect.

 “I don't see any drastic improvement in our services. We can't be complacent in this matter. We have a great team that does fantastic work,” Lakshmanan said about the scope for improvements, adding that there is zero pendency in processing. There have been suggestions to “Indianize” the consulate office, like providing chai etc., and that is being considered, he quipped.

The number of Indian students in the US has skyrocketed, with a staggering 35 percent increase in just one year. Currently, there are over 250,000 students from India at US universities. The Indian student community in the U.S. is on the rise and given the current concern about rising deaths in the student community, how does he plan on reaching out to them and what are his touchpoints for them?

The embassy in Washington has reached out to the student community and student leadership, Lakshmanan said, with informative webinars that assure the students and the parents that the embassy and consulates are available anytime for them. “From our office, two officers are listed for student affairs. Their mobile numbers are listed so they can be contacted directly.” 

“I always visit student facilities wherever I go,” the consul general said, adding that during these visits he apprises them of the culture, safety and security, particularly the newer students. “We have issued our dos and don’ts guidelines to follow before and after coming here.” The process, he said was continuous and he will continue to reach out to them.

“We also encourage community leaders to keep track of students and also advise student leaders to be aware of community leaders to reach out locally.” The consulate also puts them in touch with doctors in the area and, on a case-by-case basis, helps them with other issues such as accommodations. 

Amit Kumar Sharma is a seasoned leader with a rich history of success and over 19 years of experience in international service organizations. Currently serving as the head of Americas at VFS Global, he plays a pivotal role in spearheading business development and operations for one of the world's largest outsourcing and technology services specialists dedicated to governments and diplomatic missions.

Serving as a trusted partner to 68 governments operating 3450 application centers in 151 countries, VFS Global has efficiently processed more than 290 million applications since 2001. As the head of Americas for VFS, which manages non-judgmental and administrative tasks related to applications for visas, passports, and consular services for its governments, Sharma is all too familiar with travel trends across the globe. 

Highlighting the “revenge travel” phenomenon that emerged as a key trend in post-pandemic travel, in reference to trips that travellers took in 2022 and 2023 because they were unable to take them at the height of the pandemic, Sharma observed that the travel sector had changed considerably over the years.

“There has been a massive shift from the technology perspective, and as an organization, we have made sure that we meet those expectations of our client, governments and the applicants,” he said. 2023 in particular, has been a year of growth after the pandemic with people applying for travel, business, and student, visas which had taken a back seat during COVID. 

What about travel trends in 2024?

Sharma believes the momentum from 2023 will endure, and the travel numbers will continue to increase. “We are working with all our client governments, and partners to make sure that we are able to meet those expectations, and requirements that they have, both from the solutions perspective as well as from the perspective of scaling up the services quickly.”

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is projecting a record-breaking year for Travel & Tourism in 2024, with the sector’s global economic contribution set to reach an all-time high of $11.1 trillion. 

How does VFS ensure a seamless and hassle-free experience for applicants?

Since its inception in 2001, Sharma said there have been considerable changes in the processes, and technology, including expectations and requirements of applicants from the consulate, which he noted, “directly reflects on the services provided by VFS.” Some of the solutions that can be integrated with the process, he said, were initiatives such as Visa at your Doorstep, which as the name suggests avoids the hassle of the applicant travelling to the consulate, sometimes not even located in their cities.

“People can apply for visa or passport right from home, including biometrics enrollment. Till date, we have processed over 275 million applications across the globe (since 2001) and over 130 million biometric enrolments (since 2007)”. The VFS offices he said also operate longer hours with their Prime Time offering that allows applicants to visit during hours of 7 am or after 6 pm so they don’t miss office hours.

He also highlighted their Premium Lounges where there is no wait time, and the process is quite personalized based on the needs of the applicant. The E-Visa program, he noted enables customers to apply for their visa online.

“Once the government decides to launch an E visa for a particular country, we as an organization can give that solution to them. So, in terms of the solutions, over the last 10 years, we have created 16 digital solutions that are currently being implemented with some of the other governments across the globe that have completely made the travel process or taken the visa process to another level.”

Is the Visa at Your Doorstep available for everyone?

“We do not offer anything that is not authorized by client governments. We work with 68 client governments. There are different requirements for each of those governments,” Sharma said. While VFS offers customized solutions to each of these government visa processes, the service, he said, is available to those countries that choose that option. “This (Visa at your Doorstep ) service is very popular,” he noted and in countries that approve of it, he said anyone who does not wish to travel for the process, can apply.