Vinay Mohan Kwatra: PM’s new OSD, his fluency in Hindi and understanding of economy and terrorism

IT WAS July 2014. Prime Minister Narendra Modi needed interpreters with fluency in Hindi, as he was to leave for Brazil via Germany to attend the BRICS summit. A 1988 batch IFS officer -- Vinay Mohan Kwatra, who was then posted in MEA on counter-terrorism desk, reportedly created a pool of Hindi-speaking diplomats who could double up as interpreters. On Tuesday, the government appointed Kwatra as an officer on special duty (OSD) in Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) with a direction to the cabinet secretary that…