Centre appoints senior diplomat Tirumurti as India's Permanent Representative to United Nations

Senior diplomat T S Tirumurti was appointed as India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations on Wednesday (April 29). Tirumurti, currently serving as Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), replaces seasoned diplomat Syed Akbaruddin. Tirumurti is a 1985-batch Indian Foreign Service officer. 

"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.

It is to be noted that Syed Akbaruddin was always at the forefront of effectively presenting India's position on a range of crucial issues at the UN headquarters in New York for last several years.

Akbaruddin played an important role in garnering the support of global community for designation of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a "global terrorist" by the UN. He also used his diplomatic skills deftly in stalling China's efforts to raise the Kashmir issue at the UN.

Akbaruddin was appointed India's Permanent Representative at the UN in January 2016 and he is due for retirement shortly.

The Centre on Wednesday also appointed Jaideep Mazumdar as India's ambassador to Austria. Mazumdar is currently serving as Indian envoy to the Philippines.

Joint Secretary Deepak Mittal, is currently serving as joint secretary in the Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran (PAI) division of the MEA, was appointed as India's Ambassador to Qatar, while another seasoned diplomat, Piyush Srivastava, has been named India's next Ambassador to Bahrain. 

The Centre has also appointed Namrata S Kumar as India's next ambassador to the Repoublic of Slovenia.