Vinay Mohan Kwatra, the new Ambassador-designate of India to the United States, met with President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Friday. Kwatra will replace Taranjit Singh Sandhu, the previous envoy to the United States and a BJP leader. The President’s Secretariat announced the meeting on social media platform X.
Vikram Misri, who previously served as the Deputy National Security Adviser, is now India’s new Foreign Secretary. The Appointments Committee of Cabinet approved the Ministry of External Affairs’ proposal to appoint Misri as the next Foreign Secretary, following Vinay Mohan Kwatra. Misri began his tenure on July 15 after Kwatra’s extended term ended on July 14. Kwatra had received a six-month extension in March.
Misri, 59, has a unique distinction of having served as a private secretary to three Prime Ministers: Inder Kumar Gujral in 1997, Manmohan Singh in 2012, and Narendra Modi in 2014. Born in Srinagar, Misri was India’s ambassador to China and played a key role in discussions between India and China following the 2020 Galwan Valley clashes in Eastern Ladakh.
In July, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar expressed gratitude to the outgoing Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra for his dedication and contributions to foreign policy and national security. Jaishankar acknowledged Kwatra’s role in strategizing and executing key policies over the last decade and wished him well in his future endeavors.
