New Delhi, June 28 (UNI) Deputy National Security Advisor Vikram Misri, a China expert, was on Friday appointed as India’s next Foreign Secretary, according to an official notification.
Misri, a 1989 batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, will succeed Vinay Mohan Kwatra on July 15. Kwatra was given a six months’ extension in March this year.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet in its order said it has approved the appointment of Deputy NSA Misri in the National Security Council Secretariat, to the post of Foreign Secretary with effect from July 15.
He joined the National Security Council in January 2022.
Misri has the rare distinction of serving as private secretary to three prime ministers — Inder Kumar Gujral in 1997, Manmohan Singh in 2012, and Narendra Modi in 2014.
As India’s ambassador to China (2019-2021), his last posting, Misri played a key role in maintaining diplomatic contact with the Chinese government following the military standoff in eastern Ladakh sector in May 2020 and the Galwan clash between Indian and Chinese soldiers, in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed.
He also served as India’s ambassador to Spain (2014-2016) and Myanmar (2016-2018).
Misri has served as the Consul General of India in Germany 2011-2012), and before that he was Deputy High Commissioner of India in Sri Lanka (2008-2011). He has served in Islamabad (2000-2003), where he briefly led the mission when the officers senior to him were expelled by Pakistan. He has served in Tunis (1993-1996), where he also helped found Tunisia’s first polo club; and Brussels (1991-1993), where he was also special assistant to the ambassador.
He was also counselor for congressional affairs at the Indian Embassy in Washington, DC (2003-2006). During this tenure, he was closely associated with the landmark 2005 visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the US and the subsequent consideration of the Indo-US nuclear legislation in the US Congress.
He was born in 1964, in Srinagar, and completed his early education at the Scindia School in Gwalior. Misri holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Hindu College, University of Delhi, and an MBA from XLRI, Jamshedpur.
According to reports, India’s ambassador to France, Jawed Ashraf, is widely tipped to replace Misri in the National Security Council Secretariat.
It is widely expected that Kwatra will be named India’s next ambassador to the United States. The post has been lying vacant after the last ambassador, Taranjit Sandhu, retired in January.
