Who Is Ruchira Kamboj? Foreign Service Officer Named Permanent Consul To The UN

Ruchira Kamboj, the senior diplomat was appointed as India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. Kamboj is an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer that is currently serving as India’s envoy to Bhutan.

Ruchira Kamboj will succeed T S Tirumurti as the Indian ambassador to the United Nations (UN). The Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement that Kamboj is expected to take up the assignment shortly.

Who Is Ruchira Kamboj?

• Ruchira Kamboj is an officer of the 1987 batch of the IFS. She was the topper of the 1987 IFS batch and the all-India women’s topper of the 1987 civil services batch.
• From 1989 to 1991, Kamboj served as High Commissioner of India to South Africa and Permanent Representative of India to UNESCO, Paris.
• Kamboj then worked as the Under Secretary in the Europe West Division of India’s Ministry of External Affairs from 1991 to 1996.
  Kamboj had represented India at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in New Zealand in 1995.
• She served as the First Secretary (Economic and Commercial) and Head of Chancery at the Indian High Commission in Mauritius from 1996 to 1999.
• From 1999 to 2002, she served as the Deputy Secretary and then Director in charge of Foreign Service Personnel and Cadre in the Ministry of External Affairs.
• In 2011, she became the first and only woman in the Indian government to become the Chief of Protocol. She held her position until 2014, after which she became a part of the team working on reforming and expanding the UN Security Council.
• In May 2014, she received the special assignment of directing the swearing-in ceremony of the current Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.
• Kamboj was also India’s Ambassador to UNESCO Paris in 2014 and managed to get three Indian historic sites added to UNESCO’s World Heritage list.
• Kamboj was appointed as the High Commissioner of India to South Africa in 2017. She assumed charge of the position after she presented her credentials to President Jacob Zuma.
• She is currently serving as India's envoy to Bhutan, making her the first female Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of Bhutan.

Suggested Reading: Journalist Ismat Ara Wins Human Rights and Religious Freedom Young Journalist Award 2022