New MEA secretaries approved
The new line-up of Secretaries in the Ministry of External Affairs was formally announced on Friday, following the approval of the Appoints Committee to the Cabinet (ACC).
With Ashok Kantha appointed as the Indian Ambassador to China, he will be replaced as the Secretary (east) by 1979-batch IFS officer and current envoy to Thailand Anil Wadhwa.
Dinkar Khullar, based in Brussels as the Indian envoy, will be back in the headquarters as the Secretary (west) following the retirement of Sudhir Vyas. The ACC also approved P S Raghavan’s appointment as the Secretary (economic relations) in place of Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, who has also retired. Raghavan is Special Secretary (administration) at the MEA. This will complete the new dispensation at the South Block and mark the complete change at top, following the elevation of Sujatha Singh as the new Foreign Secretary in August.