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Deputy national security adviser Vikram Misri – a former envoy to Beijing and an expert on China – was on Friday appointed as India’s next foreign secretary, according to an official notification.
Misri, an officer of the 1989 batch of the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) who has the rare distinction of serving as the private secretary to three prime ministers, will take up his new position on July 15, according to the notification from the appointments committee of the cabinet, reports Hindustan Times.
He joined the National Security Council in January 2022. He will replace Vinay Kwatra, who was given a six-month extension in April. The same notification stated that Kwatra’s extension will now be valid till July 14. It is widely expected that Kwatra will be named India’s next ambassador to the United States.
People familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity that Misri will be a natural fit as the foreign secretary in view of his expertise on China, which remains the foremost foreign policy challenge for India.
As the ambassador to Beijing during 2019-2021, Misri played a crucial role in contacts with the Chinese government after the start of military standoff in Ladakh sector of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in May 2020.
A brutal clash in Galwan Valley in June 2020, in which 20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese troops were killed, has taken bilateral ties to a six-decade low.
Misri also served as India’s ambassador to Spain (2014-2016) and Myanmar (2016-2018). He served as private secretary to prime minister IK Gujral (1997-1998), prime minister Manmohan Singh (2012-2014) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi (May-July 2014).
He has also had stints in the Indian missions in Belgium, Pakistan, the US, Sri Lanka and Germany. India’s ambassador to France, Jawed Ashraf, who served as joint secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office under both Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi, and was granted a year-long extension in service that is set to end in September this year, is widely tipped to replace Misri in the National Security Council Secretariat, the people said.
Filling two key positions in the US is among the priorities in foreign policy for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government that took office earlier this month for a third successive term.
Kwatra is expected to become the next envoy to the US, the people said. The key slot in Washington has been lying vacant after the last ambassador, Taranjit Sandhu, retired in January.
The government also has to fill the post of India’s permanent representative to the United Nations (UN) in New York, which became vacant with the retirement of Ruchira Kamboj – the first woman to hold the position – at the beginning of this month.
The two frontrunners for this post are Parvathaneni Harish, an officer of the 1990 batch of the IFS and the current envoy to Germany, and BN Reddy, from the 1993 batch of the IFS and the current high commissioner to Malaysia, the people said.
Other names doing the rounds for this position are Vikram Doraiswami, from the 1992 batch of the IFS and the current high commissioner to Britain, and Naveen Srivastava, from the 1993 batch of the IFS and currently the ambassador to Nepal.
Sanjeev Singla, the ambassador to Israel since July 2019, is widely tipped as the next ambassador to France, the people said. Singla, from the 1997 batch of the IFS, also served as private secretary to the prime minister during 2014-2019.
