Recently, Prime Minister of Nepal Sher Bahadur Deuba came on a visit to India and met with PM Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath. It is being seen as a happy new beginning amidst the strained relations between India and Nepal in recent years.

And now, India’s Ambassador to Nepal Vinay Mohan Kwatra has been named as the next Foreign Secretary of India. With the current Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla retiring later this month, Mr. Kwatra will succeed him. Mr. Kwatra, a 1988-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, will take over as Foreign Secretary on April 30. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Mr. Kwatra. Coincidence?

No. This decision was not sudden but well thought out, as Mr. Kwatra superseded many seniors to the post of Foreign Secretary. Known as a ‘master of foreign diplomacy’, he served as India’s Ambassador to France from August 2017 to February 2020 before being appointed Ambassador to Nepal in 2020. He also held the post of Joint Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) for two years, from October 2015 to August 2017. He has made his mark as a diplomat who propagated India’s vision in every country he was appointed and won the support of that country. Whether it is a matter of any agency of the United Nations or France and Nepal, the foreign ministry’s trust in him has been unwavering. And hence, the government has decided to entrust him with a big responsibility once again.

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APPOINTED AT A CRUCIAL TIME

His appointment comes at a time when India’s neighbourhood is riddled with challenges, with Pakistan facing a constitutional crisis, Sri Lanka under an unprecedented economic crisis, Afghanistan ruled by the Taliban, and the Maldives seeing growing anti-India sentiment. Till some time ago, Nepal, too, was getting close to China and anti-India sentiment was growing in that country. But Mr. Kwatra’s tenure as Ambassador to Nepal helped India a lot and the relationship between both the countries is gradually back on a smoother track.

HIS BACKGROUND

Born in 1965, Mr. Kwatra holds a B.Sc. degree in Agriculture and Animal Husbandry (Hons.) and Masters of Science (M.Sc.). He speaks fluently three languages – French, Hindi and English. After joining the foreign service, he served as Third Secretary and then Second Secretary in the Permanent Mission of India to Geneva until 1993, where he handled work relating to the Human Rights Commission with specialised agencies of the United Nations. He also learned the French language on that mission. During this period, he also obtained a Diploma in International Relations from the Graduate School of International Studies in Geneva. He served as a desk officer at the United Nations-affiliated Headquarters between 1993 and 2003. He later served in diplomatic missions in South Africa and Uzbekistan.

Mr. Kwatra was counselor between 2003 and 2006 and later Deputy Chief of Mission at the Beijing Embassy. From 2006 to 2010, he represented India at the SAARC Secretariat in Nepal as the head of the Trade, Economy and Finance Bureau. He has served at the Ministry of External Affairs, India, and the Prime Minister’s Office as Joint Secretary. He has also served as Minister (Commerce) at the Embassy of India in Washington D.C. from May 2010 to July 2013. Between July 2013 and October 2015, Mr. Kwatra headed the Policy Planning & Research Division of the Ministry of External Affairs and later served as the head of the American Division in the Foreign Ministry where he dealt with India’s relations with the United States and Canada.

He was India’s ambassador to France from August 2017 to February 2020, after working in the PM’s office from 2015 to 2017. After this, from March 2020 till now, he was working as the Ambassador of India to Nepal.He has served at different positions in many of India’s missions abroad and in India. He holds an experience of nearly 32 years in a range of assignments.

PATHBREAKING TENURE IN NEPAL

Mr. Kwatra was appointed as the Ambassador of Nepal in March 2020. At that time, the relations between New Delhi and Kathmandu were continuously deteriorating. Nepal was moving closer to China and the then Prime Minister of Nepal, KP Sharma Oli, was also continuously making rhetoric against India. He started anti-India rhetoric to incite nationalist sentiments in Nepal.Both the countries were also involved in three border disputes, including Kalapani.

In such a situation, the Government of India tried to reduce the differences by handing over the responsibility to Mr. Kwatra. It is said that after meeting President Bidya Devi Bhandari in Nepal on March 5, 2020, Mr. Kwatra had met all the big leaders of Nepal within 24 hours. The high-profile leaders whom he met during that time to explain India’s stand, included Nepal Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba (now Nepal’s PM), too. He also had meetings with several ministers of the government and opposition leaders.

The appointment of Mr. Kwatra as Ambassador to Nepal was significant because it is rare for an ambassador posted in a European country to be made ambassador of a neighboring country. Kwatra was then the Ambassador to France. However, keeping in mind his true potential, the government entrusted him with this important responsibility. And he never disappointed the government.

He managed the crisis very well in Nepal. He was able to arrest the bilateral ties from falling further, which culminated in the visit of Prime Minister of Nepal Sher Bahadur Deuba to India now.

TENURE IN FRANCE

Before Nepal, Mr. Kwatra was India’s ambassador to France,he was at the forefront of garnering French support for India. He won the support of France in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), where France supported India in its fight against terrorism and membership to the Security Council.His role was instrumental in implementing the Rafale fighter jet deal, under which India bought 36 aircraft off the shelf. Apart from this, climate change and defense agreements were some other areas in which Mr. Kwatra played an important role.

WORKED AT THE PMO

One of the most important tenuresfor Mr. Kwatra was between October 2015 and August 2017, when he was Joint Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). During this time, he worked on the government’s Neighborhood First policy and strived towards improving relations between India and her neighbours.

BIG CHALLENGES AHEAD

Mr. Kwatra has huge responsibilities ahead of him now. He is being given the post of Foreign Secretary at a time when there are global challenges regarding the war between Ukraine and Russia. And in India’s context, relationship with neighbours is not so ok. In such a scenario, Mr. Kwatra has many important responsibilities cut out before him as the foreign secretary.