NEW DELHI: Vikram Misri, of Kashmiri origin, has been appointed as the new Foreign Secretary of India, succeeding Vinay Mohan Kwatra, who received a six-month extension in March this year.
Born into a Kashmiri Pandit family on November 7, 1964, in Srinagar, the summar capital of Jammu and Kashmir, Misri belongs to the 1989 batch of the Indian Foreign Service and has held several key positions, including Deputy NSA, ambassador to China, Spain, and Myanmar, as well as Private Secretary to multiple Prime Ministers.
The government officially announced Vikram Misri’s appointment as the new Foreign Secretary, effective from July 15, according to an official order.
“The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Vikram Misri, Deputy NSA in the National Security Council Secretariat, as Foreign Secretary with effect from July 15,” the Personnel Ministry’s order stated. The order also approved the curtailment of Misri’s tenure as Deputy NSA.
Vikram Misri has previously served in significant roles within the External Affairs Ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office.
From January 2019 to December 2021, Misri served as India’s ambassador to China, and has also held ambassadorial roles in Spain and Myanmar.
He assumed office as Deputy National Security Adviser (NSA) on January 1, 2022.
Misri’s experience includes serving in various Indian missions across Europe, Africa, Asia, and North America.
During his career, he held key positions such as Under Secretary in the Office of the External Affairs Minister of India during I.K. Gujral’s government, and later served as Private Secretary to I.K. Gujral from April 1997 to March 1998.
He also served as Under Secretary/Deputy Secretary for the Pakistan Desk in the Ministry of External Affairs from April 1998 to August 2000.
Misri was Director of the Office of the External Affairs Minister of India under then Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee from November 2006 to September 2008. He served as Joint Secretary in the PMO from March 2012 to October 2012 and later as Private Secretary to then Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh from October 2012 to May 2014.
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