Vinay Mohan Kwatra, India's ambassador to Nepal, was named the new foreign secretary of India.

New Delhi- Vinay Mohan Kwatra, India's ambassador to Nepal, was named the new foreign secretary of India. He has served in various diplomatic positions in the past and is well-versed with diplomacy. He will be replacing S Jaishankar who had been given an extension in his tenure as foreign secretary. Kwatra is expected to take up the position by next month.

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Vinay Mohan Kwatra was named the new foreign secretary.

He is the first Indian ambassador to be appointed as the country's foreign secretary. Kwatra will take over from S Jaishankar who retired on 31 December 2017. Kwatra will take charge of the ministry of external affairs on 1 January 2018.

Why Vinay Mohan Kwatra has been appointed as the new Indian Foreign Secretary.

The newly appointed Foreign Secretary, Vinay Mohan Kwatra has a distinguished career. He has served as the Ambassador of India to Nepal from 2008-2011 and again from 2013-2018. He also served as the Consul General of India in New York from 2013 to 2018. Vinay Mohan Kwatra was born in New Delhi in 1957 and studied at Delhi Public School, RK Puram, before going on to St Stephen's College where he completed his graduation in Economics (Honours) with a first class degree. He then went on to study Law at the University of Cambridge where he was awarded an LLM degree with distinction and an LLD degree by the University of London.

Kwatra, who was India’s ambassador to Nepal, was appointed by newly elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He has previously served as Indian envoy to Afghanistan and as high commissioner to Malaysia and Nigeria. This move comes as part of Modi's first major shake-up of his Cabinet in the three weeks since he took office.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Saturday announced that Vinay Mohan Kwatra, India's ambassador to Nepal, has been appointed as the foreign secretary.

Kwatra will take charge as the country’s top diplomat from January 1, 2019. He succeeds Vijay Keshav Gokhale who will retire on December 31, 2018. Kwatra is a senior Indian Foreign Service officer of the 1985 batch. He has held important diplomatic positions such as High Commissioner to Malaysia and Minister (Commercial) at India's embassy in Beijing. in a major reshuffle, India's ambassador to Nepal, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, was named the new Foreign Secretary. This is the first time in five years that an external affairs ministry bureaucrat has been appointed to the post. The external affairs ministry's statement said that this decision was taken on account of seniority and exigency of service and in order to provide "better coordination" between the government and foreign diplomatic missions. This decision by Prime Minister Modi was made with inputs from External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her deputy Gen (retd) V K Singh.

Mohan Kwatra has been serving as the Indian ambassador to Nepal for the past four years. He was also a diplomat in Thailand and Qatar.

Kwatra, 58, succeeds S Jaishankar who retired on January 28 after completing his tour of duty. He will have a three-year tenure and is likely to get an extension too.

Mr Vinay Mohan Kwatra is an Indian Foreign Service officer of 1979 batch (AGMUT). He has served as ambassador to Nepal since March 2014. Vinay Mohan Kwatra, India's ambassador to Nepal, has been named the country's new foreign secretary. The former envoy was appointed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the incumbent S Jaishankar went on a year-long leave. This decision was made in an effort to bring in fresh blood into the ministry.

The ministry had been left with no permanent head since Jaishankar had taken over as India's ambassador to the US last year. He took over from S Jaishankar on 31 July and served until his retirement on 3 November 2023. The Foreign Secretary is responsible for overseeing Indian diplomacy and relations with other countries. The person assumes this responsibility in addition to being a senior advisor for the Cabinet Committee on Security, which is chaired by Prime Minister Narendra.

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Vinay Mohan Kwatra has been appointed as India's new foreign secretary, succeeding S. Jaishankar who retired from the position in April. Kwatra has previous experience of working as an ambassador to two Nepali governments including the current one and previously to the Maoist-led government. He also served as Indian Ambassador to Bangladesh between 2007 and 2009. He is a retired Indian Foreign Service officer who served in various diplomatic missions abroad which includes stints in Bangkok, Beijing, Washington D.C., Geneva and London.

Kwatra is a former Indian Ambassador to Nepal where he was succeeded by UTP Khanna in 2010 after three years of service between 2007 and 2010.