India’s Foreign Secretary, Vikram Misri, was holding regular press briefings with Wing Commander Vyomika Singh and Colonel Sophia Qureshi to give updates on Operation Sindoor as India carried out “precision strikes” on “terror camps” in Pakistan and PoK. After he announced that India and Pakistan had agreed to a ceasefire, he went through something that nobody should – trolling by “nameless, faceless” people. His daughter was also not spared. Misri was then forced to lock his social media account to stop the “unwarranted harassment online”. After IAS and IPS officers, IFS officers have come out in his support. The Indian Foreign Service Association too condemned the incident. 

“The officers of the Indian Foreign Service strongly condemn the recent attacks on the Foreign Secretary for actions undertaken as part of his official duties,” the IFS association said. 

It added, “The service stands firmly with the Foreign Secretary and will continue to extend its unequivocal support to him as we seek to fulfil our responsibilities to our great nation.”

Namrata S Kumar, Ambassador of India to Latvia, said that “no amount of trolling weakens” the officers. “No amount of trolling weakens us. Dedication and commitment to the service and the nation are further cemented,” she expressed. 

She added, “We, the members of the Foreign Service, stand in complete solidarity with our Foreign Secretary, Vikram Misri and his family, who have been subjected to the unwarranted and unfortunate social media trolling. A distinguished and impeccable officer. Misri is a true Karmayogi, we and our service are proud of.”

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IFS Gaurav Gupta too condemned the “unwarranted personal attack” on Misri. “We stand firmly with the Foreign Secretary and condemn the social media attacks on him and his family while discharging official duty and serving the nation!”

Diplomat Arindam Bagchi said that “Misri is a wonderful person and boss”. “Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri is an exceptional professional with impeccable integrity, and a wonderful human being and boss. Proud to see him ably serve the nation at a time of crisis. The despicable trolling of him and his family is completely unacceptable. We stand in solidarity with him.”

Yet another diplomat, Sridharan Madhusudhanan, “strongly condemned” the attack on the Foreign Secretary. “Indian Foreign Service officers strongly condemn recent attacks on the Foreign Secretary for actions undertaken as part of his official duties. We stand firmly with him and remain committed to serving our nation.”

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Puneet Roy Kundal, an IFS officer from the 1996 batch, stands in full solidarity with Misir. “Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri has always discharged his duties with dedication and unstinted patriotism. I stand in full solidarity with him.”

“Indian Foreign Service officers stand in firm solidarity and support of Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri. The personal attacks on his family are highly condemnable!” Dr J Aravind, First Secretary of India to Bhutan, said. 

“Disrespect towards officers of the Indian Foreign Service, personal attacks & petulant conduct are unacceptable. Officers serve with unwavering commitment, guided solely by the principle of Bharat First. I unequivocally stand with Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri,” IFS officer Mohit Yadav said. 

Ambassador of India to Indonesia, Sandeep Chakravorty, too condemned the trolling, and said that people should “laud” his dedicated service to the nation. 

“We are all solidly behind the leader of our service, Foreign Secretary Shri Vikram Misri, who is a patriot and professional of the highest order. I condemn the despicable attacks on him & his family. His lifetime of dedicated service to the nation is to be lauded,” he said.