India’s Permanent UN Representative Syed Akbaruddin Retires, Signs Off With A Namaste To Secretary General

Top diplomat and India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations will be retiring today (30 April) following a 35 year long illustrious career. Akbaruddin a 1985 batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, also famously served as the spokesperson for the External Affairs Ministry from 2012 to 2015.

He was subsequently appointed as India’s Permanent Representative to the UN after a brief stint as the additional secretary in the MEA.

During his tenure as Permanent Representative to the UN, who was instrumental in India’s relentless diplomatic pressure on China to designate Jaish e Mohammed chief as global terrorist.

Akbaruddin was also known for effectively countering Pakistan’s propaganda on multiple occasions including after the abrogation of Article 370.

Akbaruddin on the penultimate day in charge shared a clip of a video conference with UN Secretary General António Guterres with a message, “Time to bow out with the usual Namaste”.

In the clip Akbaruddin said to the Secretary General that he had a small request before leaving.

“In the Indian tradition when we leave or meet we don’t shake hands or say hello but we say Namaste. So before I end I will say Namaste to you”, said Akbaruddin and also requested Guterres to reciprocate.

Guterres gladly obliged with a smile.

Senior diplomat T S Tirumurti will be India’s next Permanent Representative to the UN.