Senior IFS Officer Vikram Misri Assumes Charge As Foreign Secretary
Mr. Vikram Misri assumed charge as the new Foreign Secretary today. He has succeeded Vinay Mohan Kwatra whose tenure ended yesterday. Mr. Misri is a 1989 batch IFS officer.
He was serving as Deputy National Security Advisor in the National Security Council Secretariat. He has served as Indian Envoy in China, Myanmar and Spain.
Mr. 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.
Brief about ‘Vikram Misri’
Vikram Misri (born 7 November 1964) is an Indian diplomat. He currently serves as the 35th Foreign Secretary of India, having taken over from Vinay Mohan Kwatra in July 2024. Previously, he served as the Deputy National Security Advisor of India from 1 January 2022, succeeding Pankaj Saran till 14 July 2024. Whereas, he has served as the ambassador of India to China from January 2019 to December 2021.
Previously, he served as the private secretary to Prime Ministers Inder Kumar Gujral, Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi, and also as the Indian ambassador to Spain and Myanmar.
Early life and education
Misri was born on 7 November 1964 in Srinagar, India to a Kashmiri Hindu family. He completed his early education at the Scindia School. He then completed his undergraduate degree in history from the Hindu College of the University of Delhi. He also completed an MBA at the XLRI –Xavier Labour Relations Institute, Jamshedpur.
Career
After completing his education, Misri worked for three years in advertising.[4] He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1989. Between 1991 and 1996, he served in various capacities in the Indian missions in Brussels and Tunis.
He was appointed the Private Secretary to Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral in 1997. Following this, he had various stints in the Prime Ministers Office and Ministry of External Affairs, as well as several Indian missions abroad.
In 2012, he was appointed the private secretary to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He continued to serve in that capacity when Singh was succeeded by Narendra Modi. He was appointed the ambassador to Spain in 2014. He was appointed the ambassador to Myanmar in 2016.
In 2019, he was appointed the ambassador to China. He was ambassador during the 2020–2021 China–India skirmishes and held a series of meetings with senior Chinese officials, including Liu Jianchao to discuss the tensions.
Foreign Secretary
On 28 June 2024, it was announced that Mr. Misri will succeed Vinay Mohan Kwatra to assume the post of Foreign Secretary of India . On 15 July 2024, he became the 35th Foreign Secretary of India.
Personal life
He is married to Dolly Misri and has two children. He is fluent in English, Hindi, and Kashmiri, and has a working knowledge of French.
