New Delhi: Seasoned diplomat Vikram Misri, regarded as an expert on China, assumed charge as India's new foreign secretary on Monday. A 1989-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, Misri succeeded Vinay Kwatra. Misri assumed charge of the key position at a time when India is looking to navigate various foreign policy challenges, including its frosty ties with China following the lingering eastern Ladakh border row.
"Congratulate Foreign Secretary @VikramMisri as he assumes his new responsibility today. Wish him a productive and successful tenure," EAM S Jaishankar wrote on X.
"Shri Vikram Misri assumed charge as Foreign Secretary today. #TeamMEA extends a warm welcome to Foreign Secretary Misri and wishes him a successful tenure ahead," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on X.
Earlier on Sunday, Jaishankar thanked former Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra for his dedication and many contributions in the field of foreign policy and national security. Jaishankar said Kwatra, particularly in the last decade, has helped strategise and execute so many key policies. "Wish him well in his future endeavours," he added.
Who is Vikram Misri?
A career diplomat from the 1989 batch of the Indian Foreign Service, Ambassador Misri has served in various capacities at the Ministry of External Affairs, in the Prime Minister’s Office in New Delhi and in various Indian Missions abroad in Europe, Africa, Asia and North America.
Misri was serving as the deputy national security advisor in his previous assignment. He has the rare distinction of serving as private secretary to three prime ministers -- Inder Kumar Gujral, Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi. His assignments in New Delhi have included work on the Pakistan desk of the Ministry of External Affairs and stints on the staff of two Foreign Ministers ( IK Gujral and Pranab Mukherjee).
Ambassador Misri has served abroad in Brussels, Tunis, Islamabad and Washington DC. He was Deputy High Commissioner of India in Sri Lanka and Consul General of India in Munich. Ambassador Misri was appointed India’s Ambassador to Spain in 2014, Ambassador to Myanmar in 2016 and Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, where he served from January 2019 to December 2021. He was most recently the Deputy National Security Adviser (Strategic Affairs) of India, a post he held from 01 January 2022 to 30 June 2024.
Misri's role in India-China border issue
Before he was appointed as the deputy NSA, Misri served as India's ambassador to China from 2019-2021. Misri is believed to have played a key role in talks between India and China after tensions flared significantly following the Galwan Valley clashes in June 2020. The ties between the two countries nosedived following a fierce clash in the Galwan Valley that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades.
Misri, a DAV alumnus, had worked in private sector
Ambassador Misri was born in Srinagar and had his early education there (Burn Hall School and DAV School) as well as in Udhampur (Carmel Convent School) in Jammu and Kashmir. He finished his schooling at the Scindia School in Gwalior and went on to earn a Bachelor’s degree with Honours in History from the Hindu College, University of Delhi and an MBA from XLRI, Jamshedpur.
Before joining the government, he worked for three years in the private sector in the fields of advertising (Lintas India - Bombay and Contract Advertising - Delhi) and advertising film-making. Ambassador Misri is a Fellow of the Aspen Institute USA´s India Leadership Initiative (now the Kamalnayan Bajaj Fellowship). He speaks fluent Hindi, English and Kashmiri and has a working knowledge of French.
Ambassador Misri is married to Dolly Misri and they have two children.
(With inputs from agency)
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