Ranjan Mathai to succeed Nirupama Rao as Foreign Secretary

NEW DELHI: Ranjan Mathai, who is presently India's ambassador to France, will replace Nirupama Rao as the next foreign secretary.

A 1974-batch IFS officer, the 59-year-old Mathai will take charge of his new assignment on August 1, and will have a twoyear stint, official spokesperson Vishnu Prakash announced here on Monday. Rao, whose tenure comes to an end on July 31, has already been named as India’s ambassador to the United States, replacing Meera Shankar.

Mathai takes over the reins of the external affairs ministry at a crucial time. India’s relations with Pakistan have been marked with serious doubts about its ability to rein in terror outfits operating from within its soil, best exemplified by Islamabad’s persistent refusal to take action against the handlers of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.

Notwithstanding the hiccups, India has resumed talks with Pakistan. India’s ties with the US have been on the upswing, regardless of the former’s refusal to award the contract for supplying 126 multi-role combat aircraft to American companies that were in the fray.

Mathai, who did his M. A. in Political Science from Pune University, has served in the Indian missions in Vienna, Colombo, Washington, Tehran and Brussels. As Joint Secretary in the ministry of external affairs in New Delhi between January 1995 and February 1998, he headed the division dealing with India's relations with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Maldives.

He also served as Indian Ambassador to Israel from February 1998 to June 2001 and Qatar from August 2001 to July 2005. He held the post of Deputy High Commissioner in India's mission in the UK from August 2005 to January 2007.