China expert Vikram Misri takes charge as India's new foreign secretary

New Delhi: Ace diplomat Vikram Misri took over as the foreign secretary on Monday, succeeding Vinay Mohan Kwatra, who is among the frontrunners for the post of New Delhi’s envoy to Washington, DC.

Misri, who joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1989, was serving as the Deputy National Security Advisor just before he was appointed the foreign secretary.

“Congratulate Foreign Secretary @VikramMisri as he assumes his new responsibility today. Wish him a productive and successful tenure,” External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar posted on X.

Kwatra had taken over as foreign secretary in April 2022 and his tenure would have ended on April 30 this year. But the government on March 12 gave him an extension for “a period of six months beyond 30.04.2024 i.e. up to 31.10.2024 or until further orders, whichever is earlier”.

But the government on June 28 announced the appointment of Misri as the successor to Kwatra.

Misri was born in Srinagar and studied history at the University of Delhi. The 59-year-old was New Delhi’s envoy to Beijing when the India-China military standoff started in April-May 2020 and played a key role in de-escalating tension after the violent face-off between the soldiers of the Indian Army and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in the Galwan Valley in June 2020.

He served at the Prime Minister’s Office during the tenures of Inder Kumar Gujral and Manmohan Singh at the helm of the government, but also for a few months after Narendra Modi took over in May 2014.

He also served as India’s ambassador to Spain and Myanmar from 2014 to 2016 and from 2016 to 2019, respectively. He was sent to Beijing in 2019.

“Thank outgoing Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra for his dedication and many contributions in the field of foreign policy and national security. Particularly in the last decade, he has helped strategize and execute so many of our key policies. Wish him well in his future endeavours,” Jaishankar posted on X on Sunday. It was the last day of Kwatra in the office of the foreign secretary.

Kwatra, according to the sources, is the frontrunner for the post of India’s ambassador to the United States. The post has been vacant since the retirement of Taranjit Singh Sandhu earlier this year.