Ranjan Mathai to be India's next foreign secretary
27 Jun 2011
New Delhi: Ranjan Mathai, India's ambassador to France, will be the next foreign secretary, succeeding incumbent Nirupama Rao. Mathai, an IFS officer of the 1974 batch, will hold office for a period of two years.
Mathai will assume charge from 1 August, official spokesperson Vishnu Prakash said.
Mathai joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1974 after completing post-graduate studies in political science at the University of Pune.
He has served in Indian embassies in Vienna, Colombo, Washington, Tehran and Brussels.
As joint secretary in the ministry of external affairs in New Delhi in the period January 1995 to 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 was the Indian ambassador in Qatar from August 2001 to July 2005.
He was deputy high commissioner in the Indian embassy at London between August 2005 and January 2007.
Rao, who is retiring on 31 July, has been appointed as India's ambassador to the United States.
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