Harsh Vardhan Shringla appointed as new Foreign Secretary: Have a brief look at his worthwhile diplomatic career
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New Delhi, December 24: Indian ambassador to the United States Harsh Vardhan Shringla has been appointed as the next foreign secretary of India. He will replace the current foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale and take charge on January 29, 2020.
The Appointments Committee of the cabinet officially announced Shringla's appointment on Monday, making him the 33rd foreign secretary of the country. An order issued by the government on Monday said that Harsh Vardhan Shringla will take over next month after the completion of Vijay Gokhale's two-year term on January 28, 2020.
Glittering career as Indian diplomat:
Ambassador Shringla completed his undergraduate education at St. Stephen's College, Delhi University after being schooled at Mayo College, Ajmer. He worked in the Indian corporate sector prior to joining the Indian Foreign Service. Shringla has published papers on conflict prevention, economic diplomacy, the Indian diaspora and India-Bangladesh relations.
A 1984-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer and a fluent French speaker, Harsh Vardhan Shringla served as an ambassador to Bangkok from 2014 to 2016 and later as a High Commissioner to Dhaka for two years. Shringla has also served at UNESCO in France, UN in New York besides Vietnam, Israel and South Africa.
Shringla served in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) as Joint Secretary for Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Maldives and therefore understands the neighbourhood well. He was also instrumental in steering the America policy with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. Shringla’s handling of India’s neighbourhood will be valued in his new assignment, given recent tensions with Bangladesh over the CAA-NRC controversy, China’s new inroads in Nepal and other South Asian countries, as well as continuing tensions with Pakistan, which have practically derailed the SAARC process.
Harsh Vardhan was critical in ensuring that the decisions of Article 370 and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) do not adversely impact bilateral relations between New Delhi and Washington DC.
One of the major landmarks of Shringla’s career was the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) for which he worked as a Joint Secretary. He also lobbied for the bill in Parliament and briefed MPs personally to build consensus.
Shringla planned and organised the 'Howdy Modi' event that saw U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Ministe Narendra Modi address a rally together, and strengthened India-U.S. defence ties considerably during his short tenure.
Earlier in 2014, when he was Ambassador in Thailand, India conducted a major security operation to extricate top Khalistani insurgent Jagtar Singh (Tara). As part of the secret understanding that Shringla negotiated, the Thai government launched a nationwide drive that led to Singh being caught in Southern Thailand and put on a plane back to India.
Harsh Vardhan Shringla will be superseding three foreign service officers: Ruchi Ghanashyam (1982) who is currently the Indian High Commissioner to the UK; Rajeev Chander (1983) who is currently the Indian envoy to the Permanent Mission of India to the UN in Geneva, and Amita Nair (1983) who is serving as India's ambassador to Chile.
With the announcement of Harsh Vardhan Shringla, the decks are now clear for the other appointments. In the coming months, London, Washington, Kathmandu, Colombo, Ankara, Permanent Mission Of India in New York are going to fall vacant with most of the envoys either ending their tenure or retiring. Canada and Pakistan have also been without an envoy after Vikas Swarup came back to headquarters and Ajay Bisaria was sent back by Islamabad.
Outgoing Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale:
India’s current Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale, a 1981 batch officer, was appointed as the Foreign Secretary on January 29 last year. Before becoming the top official, he had served as Indian Ambassador to China from 20 January 2016 to 21 October 2017. Gokhale was also the High Commissioner of India to Malaysia from January 2010 to October 2013 and the Indian Ambassador to Germany from October 2013 to January 2016.
Vijay Gokhale is considered as an expert in Chinese. He has the rare distinction of being the only Indian Foreign Service officer to have served in both mainland China and Taiwan. He was the Director General of the India-Taipei Association, Taiwan. Gokhale during his tenure as the Ambassador of India to China, played a key role in resolving the 2017 Doklam crisis between both the nations.