TS Tirumurti Appointed India's Permanent Representative To United Nations

Seasoned diplomat T S Tirumurti, currently serving as Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, was on Wednesday appointed as India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

A 1985-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, Tirumurti succeeds Syed Akbaruddin who is credited with effectively presenting India's position on a range of crucial issues at the global body's headquarters in New York for last several years.

Akbaruddin, one of the most visible faced of Indian diplomacy, played a crucial role in pushing for designation of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a "global terrorist" by the UN as well as in stalling China's efforts to raise the Kashmir issue at the world body.

Akbaruddin has been serving as India's Permanent Representative at the UN since January 2016. He is due for retirement shortly.

"Tirumurti has been appointed as the next Ambassador/Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations at New York," the MEA said in a statement.

At present, he is holding the key position of Secretary, Economic Relations, at the MEA headquarters in Delhi.

As part of a diplomatic reshuffle, the government also appointed Jaideep Mazumdar as India's ambassador to Austria. At present, Mazumdar is serving as Indian envoy to the Philippines.

Joint Secretary Deepak Mittal was appointed as India's Ambassador to Qatar, a country considered important in the Gulf region. Mittal is currently serving as joint secretary in the Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran (PAI) division of the ministry.

Another senior diplomat, Piyush Srivastava, has been named India's next Ambassador to Bahrain. At present, he is serving as Joint Secretary in the Nepal and Bhutan division of the ministry.

The government has also appointed senior diplomat Namrata S Kumar as India's next ambassador to Slovenia.