INDIAN AMBASSADOR to the US Harsh Vardhan Shringla will be the next Foreign Secretary, and will take charge after current Foreign Secretary Vijay Keshav Gokhale’s two-year term ends next month. The appointment has been approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to the order by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT). “The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Ambassador in Washington DC as Foreign Secretary with effect from 29.01.2020 upon completion of two year of Vijay Keshav Gokhale as Foreign Secretary on 28.01.2020,” the government statement said on Monday. An Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer of the 1984 batch, Shringla has held several important positions in his diplomatic career spanning 35 years. To his credit, he was one of the main negotiators for the India-Bangladesh land boundary agreement as Joint Secretary, in charge of Bangladesh, in the MEA. In his current stint as the Indian envoy in Washington, he is widely credited for the Prime Minister’s Howdy Modi event in September, which was attended by US President Donald Trump. He has served as India’s High Commissioner to Bangladesh and Thailand, apart from serving in France, India’s permanent mission to the United Nations in the US, Vietnam, Israel and South Africa. Shringla has served in the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi as Joint Secretary responsible for Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Maldives. He has also headed the United Nations Political and SAARC Divisions in the Ministry. Earlier, he served as Director of the Northern Division dealing with Nepal and Bhutan and as Deputy Secretary of the Europe West Division. Shringla graduated from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University and has worked in the corporate and public sectors in India prior to joining the Indian Foreign Service.
