Deputy National Security Advisor Vikram Misri, who played a key role in India-China talks after the Galwan Valley clash in 2020 as India’s envoy in Beijing, was on Friday named as the next foreign secretary.

The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) approved his appointment which will take effect from July 15. He will succeed Vinay Kwatra.

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Kwatra’s term was extended beyond April 30 up to July 14 since the government apparently did not want to name anyone as the new foreign secretary at that time in the midst of the Lok Sabha election.

In an official order, the ACC also approved the curtailment of Misri’s tenure as Deputy NSA.

A 1989-batch officer of the Indian Foreign Service, Mr Misri, 59, has served as the private secretary to prime ministers Inder Kumar Gujral, Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi. Apart from serving as India’s Ambassador to China, he has also been the country’s envoy to Spain and Myanmar.

Mr Misri was born in Srinagar in 1964 and received his early education in Gwalior. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in history from Delhi University’s Hindu College and an MBA from the Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI) Jamshedpur.

In his early career, he worked at Indian embassies in Brussels and Tunis. He has also held positions in several Indian diplomatic missions across Africa and North America.