New Delhi: Curtailing Vinay Kwatra’s extension, the government on Friday appointed deputy national security advisor Vikram Misri as the next foreign secretary from July 15.
The order by Appointments Committee of the Cabinet was released on Friday evening.
As The Wire wrote in March, Kwatra is widely expected to be appointed as India’s next ambassador in Washington DC after his term as foreign secretary ends. The post has been vacant for five months since the retirement of Taranjit Singh Sandhu. Misri had been the frontrunner for the post of foreign secretary.
In March, Kwatra’s tenure was extended by six months until October 31, originally set to end on April 30 in the middle of the general elections.
The latest order has revised Kwatra’s extended tenure, now ending on July 14. Additionally, it reduces Misri’s tenure at the National Security Council Secretariat, confirming him as the foreign secretary from July 15. The foreign secretary has a fixed term of two years.
Prior to his role as deputy NSA, Misri served as India’s ambassador to China from January 2019 to December 2021. During this tenure, he experienced both the highs of the second informal summit in Chennai and the lows of the India-China stand-off at eastern Ladakh, which resulted in the most significant border casualties in four decades.
In postings in Delhi, he has worked as private secretary to three prime ministers, IK Gujral, Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi. His stint in Modi’s PMO in 2014 was brief, lasting only three months before his appointment as India’s ambassador to Spain, followed by his assignment as Indian envoy to Myanmar.
Additionally, he served as director in the office of the External Affairs Minister under Pranab Mukherjee.
Jawed Ashraf, Indian ambassador in Paris, is expected to succeed Misri as Deputy NSA.
