NEW DELHI: Vinay Mohan Kwatra, assumed charge as Foreign Secretary today. He will be accompanying Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, for the three nation visit to Germany, Denmark and France tomorrow morning.
A 1988-batch officer, Kwatra was the Ambassador of Nepal before being appointed as Foreign Secretary. His predecessor, Harsh Vardhan Shringla, has been appointed as coordinator for G20.
"The PM will have his first meeting with Chancellor Olaf Scholz tomorrow. During the course of the 6th Inter-Governmental Consultations CEOs of leading Indian and German companies will have discussions following which there would be opportunities at co-developing, co-designing and co-producing,’’ said Kwatra today.
"Shri Vinay Kwatra assumed charge as Foreign Secretary today morning. #TeamMEA wishes Foreign Secretary Kwatra a productive and successful tenure ahead," MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted on Sunday.
Three ministers who are a part of these trade consultations in Germany include External Affairs Minister, Dr S Jaishankar, Finance Minister and Minister for Science and Technology.
Meanwhile, the 2nd Indian Nordic summit in Copenhagen, May 4th, will be attended by Finland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Iceland.
"There are five clusters that we are looking at during the Nordic Summit. These include free partnership, digital collaboration, economy and trade, sustainable development and Arctic region partnership," Kwatra added.
India is the only country, apart from the US, that the Nordic countries have Summit-level meetings with.
"The PM will have a brief stopover in Paris where he will meet President Emmanuel Macron. They are likely to speak on partnerships around clean energy, environment and space,’’ Kwatra added.
Kwatra served at the PMO from October 2015 to August 2017. Kwatra happens to be the second Indian Ambassador from Nepal to have become foreign secretary, the first was Shyam Saran in 2004. Having over 32 years of experience, Kwatra served as a Third Secretary and then Second Secretary in the Permanent Mission of India in Geneva until 1993. Apart from learning French, he handled work relating to the UN specialised agencies and the Human Rights Commission. He also obtained a diploma in International Relations from the Graduate School of International Studies in Geneva. Between 1993 and 2003 he served as the Desk Officer at UN Headquarters and subsequently to diplomatic missions in South Africa and Uzbekistan.
Meanwhile, outgoing Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla has taken charge as G20 coordinator. India will host the G20 Summit in 2023. This is a new role created for organising the Summit which will include both substantive aspects as well as logistics. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal will remain the G20 Sherpa