MEA unveils new face, appoints Vikas Swarup as Secretary of Overseas Indian Affairs

New Delhi, July 12: Setting new face with new agendas, the Centre on Thursday appointed diplomat Vikas Swarup as Secretary of Overseas Indian Affairs. Vikas Swarup will replace Sanjiv Arora on August 1. Author-diplomat Vikas Swarup is India’s current High Commissioner to Canada.

According to the Department of Personnel and Training a circular issued stated, “The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Vikas Swarup, (Indian Foreign Service officer of 1986 batch) High Commissioner in Ottawa, as Secretary (CPV & amp; OIA) in the Ministry of External Affairs with effect from 1-8-2019.”

Vikas Swarup is a 1986 batch Indian Foreign Service official, and is serving as India’s High Commissioner to Canada at present. He is the author of award-winning book Q&A, which was adapted into the Oscar-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire. The book bagged the Exclusive Books Boeke Prize 2006 and the Paris Book Fair’s Reader’s Prize.

In his diplomatic career he has been posted in several countries, including Turkey, the United States, Ethiopia, the United Kingdom and South Africa. He served as Consul General of India in Osaka-Kobe in Japan from 2009 to 2013.