G20 Security Node: From G20 In Kashmir To G20 In Punjab, IPS Bhavana Saxena Silently Juggled Security Dilemmas.

G20 was a thumping success for New Delhi's diplomacy every verticle of the government and agencies burned midnight oil to ensure full proof administrative and security arrangements. At one end, law enforcement agencies are doing the ground sanitization, and on the other end, security agencies are maintaining vigil watch. However, in between, there was a node that was connecting the base, Intelligence agencies with the MEA(G20 Secretariat) to ensure smooth coordination and quick decision-making at the diplomatic level, i.e. Joint Secretary(G20 Security) Bhavana Saxena, an IPS officer belonging to 1996 batch and Andhra Pradesh cadre. It wasn't as easy as it looked, but Bhavana silently yet swiftly juggled the convergence of information and situational scenarios and ensured error-free base coordination with the MEA. There were two instances where the situation was looking a bit tight, one in J&K for obvious reasons, and the other one was in Punjab, where G20 was taking place under the shadows of the crackdown against Khalistan Terrorist Amritpal Singh and his associates. Top sources say that it was almost a security dilemma in both the venues, especially in Punjab, but Bhavana, without getting frenzied by the hype of security dilemmas, kept calm and focused on coordination and convergence of information from bottom to top. This resulted in making the right assessment of the situation and security environment prevailing at both venues and accordingly, all countermeasures and tactical support with the state police could be deployed. The regular convergence of information also ensured the sharing of real-time intelligence to keep emerging threats in check. Bhavana's role was more like a bridge between state machinery and MEA, and this interlinking is not easy to maintain, in the past, we have seen that coordination failures have caused embarrassment perhaps many officers have fallen into disarray. Nevertheless, such high-profile jugglings and coordination require spontaneity and sagaciousness more than bureaucratic skills.