15 July 2024 Punjab Khabarnama : Veteran diplomat Vikram Misri, India’s former envoy to Beijing and an expert on China, took over as the foreign secretary on Monday after Vinay Kwatra completed his tenure over the weekend.
Misri, an officer of the 1989 batch of the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) who has the rare distinction of serving as private secretary to three prime ministers, last held the post of deputy national security adviser.
Misri is seen as a natural fit as the foreign secretary in view of his expertise on China, which remains the foremost foreign policy challenge for India, and his stint in the National Security Council (NSC) dealing with strategic and foreign affairs. IFS officers usually move from the external affairs ministry to the NSC and the reverse is rare.
“Congratulate Foreign Secretary @VikramMisri as he assumes his new responsibility today. Wish him a productive and successful tenure,” external affairs minister S Jaishankar said in a post on X.
Kwatra, who was given a six-month extension in April that was subsequently curtailed, is expected to be named the next envoy to the US, people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity. He completed his term on Sunday.
HT first reported on June 7 that Misri was set to become the foreign secretary as part of a series of key appointments in the external affairs ministry.
As the ambassador to Beijing during 2019-2021, Misri played a key role in contacts with the Chinese government after the start of the military standoff in the 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, took bilateral ties to a six-decade low.
Misri served as private secretary to Prime Minister IK Gujral (1997-1998), Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (2012-2014), and Prime Minister Narendra Modi (May to July 2014), reflecting his ability to work with different regimes and earned the trust of the political leadership.
He also served as India’s ambassador to Spain (2014-2016) and Myanmar (2016-2018), and in various capacities, including chargé d’affaires in the Indian high commission in Pakistan during 2000-2003. Besides serving as a political counsellor in the embassy in Washington (2003-2006) and as deputy high commissioner in the high commission in Sri Lanka (2008-2011), he had stints in the Indian missions in Belgium and Germany.
Born in Srinagar on November 7, 1964, Misri did his schooling in Srinagar, Udhampur and Gwalior before earning a bachelor’s degree with honours in history from Hindu College in New Delhi and an MBA from XLRI in Jamshedpur. Before joining the government, he worked for three years in advertising in Mumbai and New Delhi.