Nirupama Rao to succeed Menon as next Foreign Secretary

India's Ambassador to China Nirupama Rao was named as the next Foreign Secretary.

Written by Agencies
New Delhi | June 30, 2009 05:19 PM IST

1 min read

India’s Ambassador to China Nirupama Rao was named as the next Foreign Secretary to succeed Shivshankar Menon who will be retiring on July 31 after an eventful three-year stint as the top diplomat.

Rao,a 1973-batch IFS officer who has served in a number of key positions,will be the second woman Foreign Secretary of India after Chokila Iyer.

Prior to her posting in Beijing as Ambassador in October 2006,the 58-year-old seasoned diplomat had served as Indian envoy to Sri Lanka and the country’s first woman spokesperson.

Earlier,she had served in the Indian Missions in Washington and Moscow besides having a stint in the Ministry of External Affairs as Joint Secretary (East Asia).

She will be taking over as the top diplomat at a time when India’s relations with Pakistan are going through tough times in the aftermath of Mumbai terror attacks.

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