Geetika Srivastava to be first woman chargé d’affaires in Indian mission in Pak

Geetika Srivastava will be the seniormost diplomat at the high commission in Islamabad. Indian and Pakistani missions have not been headed by high commissioners since August 2019

Updated on: Aug 28, 2023, 19:27:14 IST

By Rezaul H Laskar

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

NEW DELHI: Geetika Srivastava, currently joint secretary (Indo-Pacific) in the external affairs ministry, is set to become the first woman diplomat to hold the post of chargé d’affaires in the Indian high commission in Islamabad, people familiar with the matter said.

Geetika Srivastava will replace Suresh Kumar, who is expected to return to New Delhi soon (X/gitikasrivastav)

The Indian and Pakistani missions in Islamabad and New Delhi have not been headed by high commissioners since August 2019, when Pakistan decided to downgrade diplomatic relations following the scrapping of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status by the Indian government. Ties between the two sides have been at an all-time low following a string of terror attacks blamed on Pakistan-based groups.

While Srivastava is expected to take up her assignment in Islamabad shortly, the Pakistan government has chosen Saad Warraich, currently director general of the Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey desk at the foreign ministry, as the new chargé d’affaires in New Delhi.

Salman Sharif, the previous Pakistani chargé d’affaires, was recently called back to Islamabad. The current Indian chargé d’affaires in Islamabad, Suresh Kumar, is expected to return to New Delhi soon, the people said.

Srivastava, who is from the 2005 batch of the Indian Foreign Service, served in the Indian embassy in China during 2007-09. She has also had stints at the Regional Passport Office in Kolkata and as director of the Indian Ocean Region division in the external affairs ministry.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rezaul H Laskar
Rezaul Hasan Laskar is Foreign Editor with the Hindustan Times, which he joined in 2015. He began as a journalist in his hometown of Shillong in northeast India and has worked in newspapers and wire services over the years. He moved to New Delhi in 1997 and initially focused on defence, national security, Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast, while also working of foreign policy and international relations. He has been part of the media delegation accompanying PMs on foreign visits and has reported from destinations ranging from Tibet to Ukraine. Between 2007 and 2013, he was the Press Trust of India correspondent in Pakistan, one of only two Indian journalists allowed to report from the country. He extensively covered Pakistan’s domestic politics and the life of the common people, as well as the fallout of the 2008 Mumbai attacks on India-Pakistan relations and the subsequent trial in Pakistan of the suspects involved in the attack. As part of his reportage in Pakistan, he travelled the breadth of the country, from the Swat Valley to Balochistan. Reza’s first gig in journalism was writing a weekly music column, and music – especially classic rock – remains a keen interest. He is also a movie buff and a keen photographer.Read More