Vinay M. Kwatra appointed India’s foreign secretary

Indian Ambassador to Nepal Vinay Mohan Kwatra has been appointed as the foreign secretary of India. The Government of India made a decision to this effect, Monday.

According to sources, the appointments committee of the Cabinet appointed Kwatra to the post of foreign secretary.  He is replacing Harsh Vardhan Shringla as the secretary of India’s Ministry of External Affairs. Kwatra has an experience of nearly three decades in the Indian Foreign Service. He joined service in 1988 and served as the Third Secretary and the Second Secretary in the Permanent Mission of India in Geneva till 1993.

Furthermore, he served as the Deputy Chief of Mission in Beijing, China. Kwatra represented India as the head of Trade, Economy and

Finance Bureau at the SAARC Secretariat in Nepal from 2006 till 2010.

He was the Minister (Commerce) in the Embassy of India, Washington from 2010-2013. Kwatra has also served as the head of Americas Division, dealing with India’s relations with Canada and the United States. In 2017, Kwatra was appointed the Indian envoy to France.

Prior to landing in Nepal as the Indian envoy, Kwatra had served as Joint Secretary in the office of the Prime Minister of India (2015-2017).