The Government on Monday appointed senior diplomat and former high-profile spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs Syed Akbaruddin as India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, New York. He will replace incumbent Asoke Mukerji.
A 1985 batch Indian Foreign Service(IFS) officer, Akbaruddin is currently serving as an Additional Secretary in the Ministry. He is credited with bringing a whiff of fresh air into the Ministry’s External Publicity division during his three-and-half year tenure as the spokesperson. He had also brought an effective mix of social and digital media into the External Publicity division.
As India’s Permanent Representative to the global body in New York, Akbaruddin’s main task would be to push for India’s bid to gain permanent membership of the UN Security Council as well as to strongly advocate its position on key issues.
He was Chief Coordinator of the recently-held Indo-Africa Summit here in which heads of State and Government of 41 countries from African continent took part. He had served at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Geneva and is considered an “expert” on the West Asia where
he had served in various capacities.
Vikas Swarup, author of best-selling novel “Q&A” which formed the basis for Oscar-winning movie “Slumdog Millionaire,” had replaced Akbaruddin as ministry of external affairs spokesperson in April.