Foreign Secretary Misri’s China stint to count in ongoing geopolitical turmoil

NEW DELHI: Vikram Misri, who took over as India’s Foreign Secretary on Monday, has served in various capacities at the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) headquarters in New Delhi, various Indian Missions all over the world, including China, besides also having the unique distinction of working closely with three Prime Ministers at the PMO since 1997.
A diplomat from the 1989 batch of the Indian Foreign Service, Misri was born in Srinagar in November 1964 and had his early education in Jammu and Kashmir. He then moved on to study at the Scindia School in Gwalior before pursuing a Bachelor’s degree with Honours in History from the Hindu College in Delhi and an MBA from XLRI, Jamshedpur.
After joining the IFS, Misri’s first overseas assignment was in the Embassy of India in Brussels (1991-1993). He then went to serve at the Embassy of India in Tunis before working as an Under Secretary at the MEA. In April 1997, Misri joined as Private Secretary to the then Prime Minister of India, I.K. Gujral for nearly one year. Later, he also served as Private Secretary to then PM Manmohan Singh (October 2012-May 2014) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi (May 2014-July 2014).
In between, Misri had stints at the High Commission of India in Islamabad, in the Embassy of India in Washington DC, as Deputy High Commissioner of India in Sri Lanka and also Consul General of India in Munich.
In 2014, Misri took up the post of Ambassador of India to Spain in 2014 and followed it up with Ambassadorial roles at the Indian missions in Myanmar and China (2018-2021), which turned out to be one of the most significant appointments of his career due to the violent Galwan Valley face-off between the soldiers of the two countries at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in June 2020.
As the Chinese side attempted to transgress the LAC in other areas of the Western Sector of the India-China border areas, the two sides were engaged in discussions through established diplomatic and military channels to address the situation which continues till date.
“The recent experience also suggests that at the ground level, when managing a difficult bilateral situation, finding a resolution hinges on mature minds, open channels, and consistency between words and actions. But while these are positive elements we can draw on, we must steer clear of certain obstacles which could block progress. The first is to avoid shifting goalposts. For long, the Indian and Chinese sides have adhered to a well-understood distinction between resolving the boundary question and managing border affairs, ” Misri, India’s envoy to Beijing, said while addressing the 4th High-level Track II Dialogue on China-India Relations in September 2021.
A few weeks later, Misri was appointed as the Deputy National Security Advisor in the National Security Council Secretariat and worked closely with NSA Ajit Doval until his latest appointment.
His appointment as Foreign Secretary comes at a critical juncture due to the current uncertain geopolitical situation and various conflicts and longstanding issues, including with China, not making much headway.