PM asks India's future diplomats to be more tech-savvy; 5 takeaways of PM’s meeting with 39 officer-trainees

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Monday asked India’s future diplomats to be more tech-savvy with an urge to engage more with diaspora, who, according to the PM, are increasingly becoming important stakeholders in the conduct of foreign relations. Here are five takeaways of the PM’s meeting with 39 officer trainees of Indian Foreign Service, currently undergoing training in the Foreign Service Institute:

MEA secretary Amarendra Khatua: Mind of a diplomat, heart of a poet

THE government on Monday assigned an additional destination to current Director General of ICCR (Indian Council for Cultural Relations) and 1981 batch IFS officer Amarendra Khatua. He will also be secretary (special assignment) in the ministry of external affairs (MEA) till the date of his retirement, i.e. May 31, 2017. A career diplomat who had earlier served as Ambassador of India to Argentina, Khatua also held trade and economic positions in Indian Missions of Madrid, Mexico City, Karachi, Moscow and New York. But not to forget, Khatua is a poet in heart. Let’s first recite a few lines of one of his many poems:

“Masala Bumbu”: How this diplomat brought journalist Inder Malhotra, ex-adviser to PM Baru and environmentalist Pachauri – all in one place

Ambassador Gurjit Singh

WHO could bring veteran journalist Inder Malhotra, former media adviser to PM Sanjaya Baru and environmentalist RK Pachauri, currently battling a sexual harassment charge — all in one place? A book titled “Masala Bumbu: Enhancing the India-Indonesia Partnership” edited by India’s ambassador to Indonesia and 1980 batch IFS Gurjit Singh and…

PM Narendra Modi asks IFS officers to read Indian history, motivate Indian diaspora

PRIME minister Narendra Modi exhorted 29 officer trainees of 2012 batch of Indian Foreign Service (IFS) to be well-acquainted with India’s history, and its historical links with various countries of the world. While interacting with the would-be-diplomats at 7 Race Course on Thursday, Modi added that IFS probationer should…

EX-IAS RK Singh and RS Pandey may fight Lok Sabha poll; will former diplomat Jaimini Bhagwati join the Congress?

Diplomat Jaimini Bhagwati with wife Rita

TWO prominent former IAS-turned BJP members, ex-home secretary RK Singh and ex-petroleum secretary RS Pandey, may contest Lok Sabha polls from Bihar. A few more bureaucrats including former IFS and ex-Indian envoy to UK Jaimini Bhagwati may plunge into active politics as the poll fever has gripped the nation. It is learned that diplomat Bhagwati, who is the son of Bijoy Chandra Bhagwati, a former Parliamentarian from Assam and minister in Jawaharlal Nehru’s government, may join the Congress and fight...

Know Your Diplomat: India's new ambassador to Germany Vijay Keshav Gokhale

Gokhale during a book launch

Vijay Keshav Gokhale, a 1981 batch officer of Indian Foreign Service, is India’s new ambassador to Germany. The post has been lying vacant since Indian ambassador to Germany Sujatha Singh took over as India’s foreign secretary on August 1. Gokhale, 54, has been…

Making of a Diplomat: Ex-envoy Prem K Budhwar’s book dispels myths

ARE diplomats a clan that begins its mornings with English breakfast and ends its day with lavish cocktail dinners? An interesting book titled “Making of a Diplomat - Hone your skills” authored by ex-Indian high commissioner to Canada Prem K Budhwar, makes an attempt to…

Once in a Blue Moon: Foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai's biggest stunt ever

Mathai (Middle): Enjoying a Manipuri Dish

CLOSELY look at this photograph. India’s top diplomat and foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai is having his lunch while sitting on the floor. The dateline: some store-room look-a-like dinning hall somewhere in Manipur’s capital town of Imphal.  Have yet another look at the photo. There is no spoon, no fork near his plate. Yet, Mathai is enjoying a Manipuri dish by using his hand. As a recent New York Times article says, eating with hands is a highly spiritual, sensual and emotional experience. But for Mathai, the intent is to spread yet another message:

IFS officers feel the heat as global IAS may dictate economic diplomacy

VERY often, officials from IRS cadre have problems with IAS lobby. Now, Indian Foreign Service officers are feeling the heat. As influential, and also ambitious, mid-career IAS officers have begun to fill up key economic posts in major missions such as US, UK, Japan etc., there is a fear among career diplomats that this new breed of global IAS may call the shots at a time when economic policies dictate diplomacy.
What has soured the relations further was...

IFS officers’ assets made public; Hardeep Puri owns house in West End, Meera Shankar in Commonwealth Games Village

Indian Diplomats in New Delhi (File photo)

INDIAN Foreign Service (IFS) personnel barring a few made their property details in public by May 27, 2011 paving the way for a more transparent regime and a public scrutiny. Among top diplomats whose list of immovable properties was placed in the Ministry of External Affairs’ website by Friday evening include foreign secretary Nirupama Rao, India’s ambassador to US Meera Shankar, India’s ambassador to Japan Alok Prasad, Permanent Representative of India to UN Hardeep Puri, India’s high commissioner to UK Nalin Surie, Secretary (West) Vivek Katju just to name a few.

According to the declaration, Permanent Representative of India in United Nations Hardeep Puri bought a house in New Delhi’s posh West End area in 2005 which costs him Rs 2.5 crore. Puri also mentioned that he sourced the money from the sale of his previous house added with Rs 1 crore loan from HSBC. Now, his West End house gives him a net income of Rs 30 lakh per annum, the declaration adds.

India’s ambassador to US Meera Shankar and her husband Ajay Shankar (ex-DIPP secretary) jointly own a Rs 2.85 crore flat in the newly constructed Commonwealth Games Village in New Delhi. They are yet to get the possession of the flat. The declaration has further mentioned that they managed that amount from the sale of their Gurgaon house and joint personnel savings.

India’s high commissioner in London Nalin Surie and his wife have a two-room DDA flat in New Delhi’s Vasant Vihar area and a residential plot of 420 sq metres in Gurgaon, both of which were purchased in 1980s. His flat now gives him a monthly rent of over Rs 20,000.

Foreign secretary Nirupama Rao’s Gurgaon flat was bought in 2003 for Rs 25 lakh and she has no idea how much is the market value of that property now, the declaration says. Secretary (West) Vivek Katju’s IFS apartment flat in Gurgaon now gives him a rent of Rs 1,80,000 annually. According to his estimates, the market value of the flat now is Rs 60 lakh.

Flame-haired Russian spy and daughter of a diplomat may warm up Moscow's politics

Anna Chapman, flame-haired Russian spy and daughter of a diplomat, has entered into a new innings in Russian politics. Dubbed as modern day Bond girl and considered to be hot favourite of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, 28 years old Anna got a prominent role in a pro-Kremlin youth party.

Significantly, she was arrested along with nine others on June 27, 2010, on suspicion of spying under the Russian Federation’s external intelligence agency --- SVR. Later, she was deported from US.

Anna Chapman is actually Anya Kushchenko, the daughter of a Russian diplomat Vasily Kushchenko who had worked in Russian embassies in Africa. When she was arrested in US, her British ex-husband, Alex Chapman, narrated many events to the British media. He found his ex-father-in –law very intimidating. Anna’s diplomat father had a Land Rover with blacked-out windows and there was always one car in front of it and one car behind, Alex told media. The couple got married in 2002, merely five months after they met in a London nightclub, but the marriage ended up in a divorce in four years. In London, she worked at NetJets where she helped the company selling private jets to rich Russian clients, and then worked with Barclays Bank too. Later, she moved to US. (Picture Source: Facebook)

Action and Appointments

a) Vinay Kumar Sahni, a 1981 batch IDAS officer, has been appointed as joint secretary in the ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs.