Former Indian Ambassador To US Harsh Vardhan Shringla Takes Charge As India’s New Foreign Secretary

Former Indian ambassador to United States Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Wednesday (29 January) took over as the new foreign secretary of India after retirement of Vijay Gokhale.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Centre government had last month cleared the appointment of Shringla as the new foreign secretary.

Shringla is a career diplomat and a member of the Indian Foreign Service since 1984. In the course of a diplomatic career spanning over 35 years, he has held a variety of positions in New Delhi and abroad.

He has served as Ambassador of India to the United States of America, Kingdom of Thailand and as High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh. He has also served in France (UNESCO); USA (UN, New York); Vietnam (Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City); Israel and South Africa (Durban).

Shringla had graduated from Saint Stephen's College, Delhi University and has worked in the Corporate and Public Sectors in India prior to joining the Indian Foreign Service.

Shringla has pursued courses and published papers on conflict prevention, economic diplomacy, the Indian diaspora and India-Bangladesh relations. He speaks French, Vietnamese and Nepalese apart from English and Indian languages.