Ruchira Kamboj is India’s new UN Permanent Representative

Indian diplomat Ruchira Kamboj, permanent representative to United Nations

iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-

India’s envoy to Bhutan Ruchira Kamboj[Above photo], a 1987-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, was Tuesday, June 21 appointed as India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York.

Kamboj will succeed T.S. Tirumurti as the Indian ambassador to the UN. “Ms. Ruchira Kamboj (IFS: 1987), presently Ambassador of India to Bhutan, has been appointed as the next Ambassador/Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations at New York. She is expected to take up the assignment shortly,” India’s Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. Kamboj was the national women’s topper of the 1987 civil services batch and the overall topper of the 1987 foreign service batch. She was India’s first woman ambassador to the Kingdom of Bhutan. Prior to her Bhutan assignment, Kamboj was India’s High Commissioner to South Africa from 2017 to 2019.

She began her diplomatic journey in Paris, France, where she was posted as the Third Secretary in the Indian Embassy to France from 1989-1991.

She served as undersecretary in the Europe West division during 1991-96, dealing with France, the UK, BENELUX countries, Italy, Spain and Portugal, and also handled the relationship with the Commonwealth.

Kamboj, one of the IFS officers superseded for the post of foreign secretary earlier this year, had a stint as a counselor at India’s permanent mission to the UN in New York during 2002-05, dealing with issues such as UN peacekeeping, Security Council reform and the Middle East. She also served as deputy head of the office of the secretary-general at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London.

During 2011-14, she served as chief of protocol in the external affairs ministry, the first woman officer to hold this position responsible for outgoing visits by the President, Vice President, Prime Minister and External Affairs Minister. In this capacity, she was involved in organizing international summits in India.

Kamboj was posted as India’s ambassador to UNESCO in Paris between 2014 and 2016, before being appointed as the envoy to South Africa. She was subsequently appointed ambassador to Bhutan in 2019.