Vijay Keshav Gokhale to take charge as new Foreign Secretary

Vijay Keshav Gokhale, a senior diplomat of the External Affairs Ministry, will take charge as the next Foreign Secretary on January 29, 2018.

Gokhale would be succeeding S Jaishankar, who is retiring from the post. The 1977-batch IFS officer, Jaishankar was appointed as the Foreign Secretary in January 2015, for a term of two years. He was given a one-year extension in January last year.

About Vijay Keshav Gokhale

• The 1981-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, Gokhale is currently serving as the Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs.

• He was India's Ambassador to China from January 20, 2016, to October 21, 2017, before moving back to the MEA headquarters in New Delhi.

• He has also served as India's top envoy to Germany between October 2013 and January 2016 and worked in Indian missions in Hong Kong, Hanoi and in New York.

• He has held the posts of Director (China and East Asia) and then Joint Secretary (East Asia) in the MEA.

• His appointment to the new post was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a term of two years.

• Gokhale had played a key role in negotiations to resolve the 73-day-long Doklam standoff between Indian and Chinese armies last year.

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