Nirupama Rao to be next Foreign Secretary

Siddharth VARADARAJAN

New Delhi: The Indian government on Tuesday named Nirupama Rao, currently Ambassador to China, as its next Foreign Secretary.

She will succeed Shiv Shankar Menon, who retires at the end of July after a tenure that lasted two years and 10 months.

A 1973-batch officer of the Indian Foreign Service, Ms. Rao has had extensive experience working the full range of diplomatic assignments that a prospective Foreign Secretary is expected to have under her or his belt: important postings in one or more of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, an ambassadorship in India's immediate neighbourhood and line responsibilities at the headquarters.

Prior to becoming India's woman in Beijing, she was High Commissioner to Sri Lanka. Her other diplomatic jobs included being Ambassador to Peru, deputy head of the Indian embassy in Moscow, and Minister (Press) at the Indian embassy in Washington, DC. Courtesy :The Hindu