Vinay Kwatra, India's envoy to Nepal, is the next foreign secretary

File image of IFS officer Vinay Mohan Kwatra (Image: Twitter/@AmbVMKwatra)

India’s ambassador to Nepal Vinay Mohan Kwatra will be the next foreign secretary, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet announced on April 4, a decision that comes at a time when India faces intense scrutiny from the West over its ties with Russia.

A 1988-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, Kwatra succeeds Harsh Vardhan Shringla who would superannuate on April 30, 2022, the government said in a statement.

Kwatra will have his work cut out as India walks a diplomatic tightrope over the Russian invasion of Ukraine and looks to navigate a barrage of sanctions slapped by the US and its allies against Moscow.

Russia is one of India’s leading defence partners and is also offering cheap oil at a time when global crude prices are hovering above $100 a barrel.

Kwatra has been a career diplomat for over 32 years. He served as the third secretary and then teh second secretary in the Permanent Mission of India in Geneva between 1988 and 1993.

From 1993 to 2003, he served as the desk officer at headquarters dealing with United Nations, and subsequently in the diplomatic missions in South Africa and Uzbekistan.

Between 2003 and 2006, he served as the counsellor and later as the deputy chief of mission at the Indian embassy in Beijing.

From 2006 to 2010, he represented India at the SAARC Secretariat in Nepal as head of the Trade, Economy and Finance Bureau.

From May 2010 to July 2013, Kwatra served as minister (commerce) at the Indian embassy in Washington. Between July 2013 and October 2015, he headed the Policy Planning & Research Division of the Ministry of External Affairs and later served as the head of Americas Division in the foreign ministry, where he dealt with India’s relations with the United States and Canada.

From October 2015 to August 2017, Kwatra served as joint secretary in the prime minister’s office. From August 2017 to February 2020, he served as India’s ambassador to France. He was sent to Kathmandu in March 2020.