Syed Akbaruddin, India’s face at UN, set to retire; TS Tirumurti likely to take over

india

Updated: Apr 26, 2020 22:08 IST

Syed Akbaruddin, one of the most visible faces of Indian diplomacy in recent years, is likely to be replaced as India’s permanent representative to United Nations by TS Tirumurti, a seasoned diplomat with experience of multilateral organisations.

Akbaruddin, who took Indian diplomacy into the Twitter era during his stint as spokesperson of the ministry of external affairs (MEA), is set to retire this month along with India’s high commissioner to the UK, Ruchi Ghanshyam, people familiar with the development said.

Turmurti, who has been the secretary (economic relations) since early 2018, has earlier had stints at India’s permanent mission in Geneva and as director in the foreign secretary’s office and joint secretary (UN, economic and social).

Ghanshyam, who was superseded for the post of foreign secretary earlier this year, is expected to be replaced in London by Gaitri Kumar, currently the envoy to Belgium, Luxembourg and the European Union, the people cited above said on condition of anonymity. Santosh Jha, currently India’s envoy to Uzbekistan, is tipped to be the new ambassador in Brussels, they said.

Rajiv Chander, another IFS officer who was superseded for the post of foreign secretary, is set to retire in August and is expected to be replaced as India’s permanent representative to the UN by Indra Mani Pandey. Pandey is currently the additional secretary (disarmament and international security affairs).

Raveesh Kumar, who was, till recently the MEA spokesperson, is set to become the envoy to Finland.