Indian envoy to United States Harsh Vardhan Shringla will be the next Foreign Secretary

Indian envoy to United States Harsh Vardhan Shringla will take over as India's next Foreign Secretary after incumbent Vijay Gokhale's term ends next month.

Harsh Vardhan Shringla is career diplomat and a member of the Indian Foreign Service since 1984. He has held a variety of positions in New Delhi and abroad. He has served as High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh and Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of Thailand. He has also served in France (UNESCO); USA (UN, New York); Vietnam (Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City); Israel and South Africa (Durban).



Ambassador Shringla has graduated from St.Stephen's College, Delhi University and has worked in the Corporate and Public Sectors in India prior to joining the Indian Foreign Service. He has pursued courses and published papers on conflict prevention, economic diplomacy, the Indian diaspora and India-Bangladesh relations. Ambassador Shringla speaks French, Vietnamese and Nepalese apart from English and Indian languages. He is married to Mrs. Hemal Shringla and has one son.

Incumbent Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale took over on January 29, 2018, and has since been working to make India's foreign policy stand out. The 1981-batch Indian Foreign Service officer led the diplomatic efforts on the Doklam front in Beijing. During his stint in Beijing as Ambassador of India to China, his role in Doklam crisis ensured that the crisis which had all the characteristics of blowing up into a major disaster was resolved amicably.