Geetika Srivastava is first woman to head Indian mission in Pakistan

While the two countries currently have a downgraded status of diplomatic representation in each other’s Capital — there are no High Commissioners, and the highest ranking diplomat is a CDA who is a Joint Secretary-rank equivalent officer — the government has selected a woman IFS officer to lead its High Commission in Pakistan.

Currently serving as Joint Secretary at the headquarters of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Srivastava looks after the Indo-Pacific division.

As someone who learnt Mandarin as part of her foreign language training, she has served in the Indian Embassy in China during 2007-09. She has also had stints at the Regional Passport Office in Kolkata and as Director of the Indian Ocean Region division in the MEA.

Since 1947, when Sri Prakasa was sent as the Indian High Commissioner to the then Dominion of Pakistan, New Delhi has always been represented by diplomats who are men — there have been 22 heads of mission.

The last Indian High Commissioner to Islamabad was Ajay Bisaria, who was withdrawn after Pakistan decided to downgrade the status of the High Commission following the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.

Women diplomats have been posted to Pakistan earlier, but not at the highest level. It is also considered a hardship posting, since Islamabad was declared a “non-family” posting for Indian diplomats a few years ago. That usually limits women officers from taking up the assignment in Pakistan.

Currently, there is a woman diplomat at the First Secretary level in the Indian High Commission.

Srivastava is expected to take up her assignment in Islamabad shortly, sources said.

Pakistan has also posted a new CDA in New Delhi. Saad Ahmad Warraich, a career diplomat who has served in Pakistan’s Permanent Mission to the UN in New York, succeeds Salman Sharif who left India last month and returned to Islamabad.