On Monday, the government announced the appointment of the new foreign secretary. The new Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra, is the current ambassador of India to Nepal, and has 32 years in the foreign service. He has served in various assignments, including as India’s envoy to France.
On May 1, he will take over the reins from the foreign secretary Harsh Shringla, who will be superannuating at the end of the month. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Mr Kwatra to the post, the government order said.
The foreign secretary designate is a 1988-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer and he has held positions in various Indian missions across the globe including Washington DC, and Beijing. In his 32 years of service, he was also joint secretary in Prime Minister’s Office India’s diplomatic missions in Washington DC, Beijing and has also served as Joint Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office.
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He joined Indian Foreign Service in 1988, and his first posting was as a third secretary and then second secretary in the Permanent Mission of Mission in Geneva until 1993.
He learnt French language there and his job profile was related to handling the Human Rights Commission, and work related to UN specialized agencies. While in Geneva, he also got a diploma in International Relations from the Graduate School of International Studies in Geneva.
He also served as desk officer at Headquarters dealing with the United Nations, and later in the missions in South Africa and Uzbekistan between 1993 and 2003.
He then went on to serve as Counsellor and later on as the Deputy Chief of Mission in the Embassy of India, Beijing, China between 2003 and 2006.
He has also represented India as head of Trade, Economy and Finance Bureau at the SAARC Secretariat in Nepal from 2006 to 2010.
Served as Minister (Commerce) in the Embassy of India, Washington from May 2010 till July 2013.
Then he was back at the Headquarters between July 2013 and October 2015, and he headed the Policy Planning & Research Division. Then later served as the head of Americas Division and was responsible for India’s relations with the US and Canada.
He has been a Joint Secretary in the PMO from October 2015 till August 2017. Then in 2017 until February 2020 he was India’s envoy to France. Then, he was sent as ambassador of India to Nepal – from 2020 till date.