G20 Summit: Preparations for the G20 Summit are underway with great zeal. The national capital has been bedecked and graced with lights from roads to popular monuments. Meanwhile, renowned sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik has created a six-feet sand sculpture using 2000 mud diyas on Puri sea beach to welcome US President Joe Biden, who is all set to visit India for the G20 Summit.
'Welcome to Bharat'
The G20 Summit is to be held on September 9 and 10 in New Delhi. The sand work by Pattnail has a sand sculpture of US President Joe Biden and a logo of G20 with the message 'Welcome to Bharat'. Pattnaik used about five tonnes of sand in the sculpture. With this, students of Pattnaik's Sand Art Institute also joined hands to complete it.
"It was our culture to welcome guests with diya arti. So I have created this sculpture by using diyas to welcome the US president,” he said.
Pattnaik's art
Pattnaik had created another sand sculpture of Biden when he won the presidential election in November 2020. A Padma awardee, he has participated in more than 65 international sand art competitions and festivals around the globe and has won many prizes for the country.
According to senior White House officials, Biden is "very excited" about the important initiatives he will be championing at the G20 Summit in New Delhi. After arriving in New Delhi on Friday evening, President Biden is likely to immediately get back to business by having his bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the same night.
His meetings and interactions with Modi and other world leaders during and on the sidelines of the G20 Summit would be driven by the COVID-19 protocols established by the CDC.
(with inputs from PTI)
