DHAKA: Senior diplomat Harsh Vardhan Shringla has taken charge as the foreign secretary of India on Wednesday (Jan 29).

Before his present assignment, Shringla was the Indian ambassador to the USA, according to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.

Shringla, a career diplomat and a member of the Indian Foreign Service since 1984, also served as Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh.

He succeeds Vijay Gokhale, who retired from service on Tuesday.

“As Foreign Secretary, I look forward to working with India’s many partners in the international system — in enhancing developmental and economic linkages, as well as connectivities, with our neighbours; building synergies with major powers; seeking a shared, undifferentiated and unambiguous approach to terrorism and the threat it poses to free societies; and sustaining the gains of a rules-based multilateral order,” said Shringla in an official statement circulated on Wednesday.

He also said: I entered the Foreign Service during the Cold War and I am entering the Foreign Secretary’s office at a time when global warming has become a pressing concern. Several other recent opportunities and challenges related to the cyber domain and emerging technologies will also receive our attention.  The MEA fully appreciates the critical nature of these issues for our country and planet.

“Under the overall guidance of the Prime Minister and the External Affairs Minister, I will strive to provide the basis for a dynamic and responsive diplomacy, one that is alive to the requirements of a new India,” Shringla added.

Meanwhile, US envoy to India Ken Juster on Wednesday congratulated India’s new Foreign Secretary and said both the countries will work together to five further boost to the US-India global strategic partnership.Bashundhara Group Chairman Ahmed Akbar Sobhan and Managing Director Sayem Sobhan Anvir greeted outgoing Indian envoy to Dhaka Harsh Vardhan Shringla with a bouquet at a farewell reception on January 4, 2019.

“…We look forward to working with you to advance the US India global strategic partnership. And congratulations to Vijay Gokhale on completing his tenure as Foreign Secretary,” Mr Juster tweeted.

In the course of a diplomatic career spanning over 35 years, Harsh Vardhan Shringla has held a variety of positions in New Delhi and abroad.

He has also served in Thailand, France (Unesco), USA (UN, New York), Vietnam (Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City), Israel and South Africa (Durban).

Harsh Vardhan Shringla served in the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi as joint secretary (director general) responsible for Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and the Maldives.

BDST: 2002 HRS, JAN 29, 2020

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