NEW DELHI: Narendra Modi Government will undertake the first major reshuffle of its top diplomatic line-up this year. Senior diplomats have been sharpening their pens this week, as they sent out their applications for the most coveted appointments that have come “on the market” during the 15-month-old NDA Government’s tenure.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had recently called for applications for 20 Ambassadorial posts in a circular sent to eligible officials. “We never had so many top posts falling vacant simulatenously. This is very rare,” said a senior MEA official. The last date for submitting applications is July 31. One of the reasons why so many top posts fell vacant together was that the envoys to Moscow, Beijing, London, New York had fixed two-year tenures.
While Modi Government had already made dozens of Ambassadorial appointments this year, they were not “top of the line” like the current crop. The list includes envoys to the UK, Russia, China and permanent representative to the UN in New York.
But, that’s not all. Three countries in the neighbourhood with whom India has critical relations – Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan – would also need new faces. Tokyo is also on the list, with incumbent Deepa Gopalan Wadhwa retiring. Japan has become a key partner for India in increasing its profile in Asia-Pacific, with a rising, assertive China in mind.
So far, the government’s biggest appointment in the MEA has been of Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, followed by subsequent changes at the missions in Washington and Paris in January. Arun Kumar Singh was made the new envoy to Washington, while Mohan Kumar of 1981-batch took over as Ambassador to France.
With four Secretary-rank officers at the headquarters, who could be moving abroad to new posts, the MEA might get a completely new look by the end of this year.
For each top diplomatic job, there are many qualified takers. For the UK, where former Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai’s two-year term ends in December, the main contenders in the race are the Secretary (East) Anil Wadhwa, Secretary (West) Navtej Singh Sarna, as well as Chief Coordinator (India Africa Forum Summit) Syed Akbaruddin.
Wadhwa (1979-batch), who has served in Beijing twice and can converse in Mandarin, is also in the running for China where the current envoy, Ashok Kanth, retires in September. But there is also a strong buzz around Vijay Gokhale (1981-batch), current Ambassador to Germany, who has similar qualifications of having worked twice in Beijing, knowledge of Mandarin and headed Territorial Division for East Asia.
Asoke Mukherji, permanent representative to the UN, would retire in December. He could be succeeded by Secretary (MER) Sujata Mehta (1981-batch), who has been supervising the country’s UN diplomacy, with Akbaruddin also in the running.
There are still no clear candidates for Pakistan. Pankaj Saran (1982-batch IFS officer), currently in Bangladesh, has been mentioned as a possible candidate.