Sibi George is an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

of the

Indian Foreign Service The Indian Foreign Service (IFS) is a diplomatic service and a Central Civil Services, central civil service of the Government of India, Government of the Republic of India under the Ministry of External Affairs (India), Ministry of External A ...

cadre who is the current Ambassador of India to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. He has previously served as Ambassador of India to

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

(Vatican City) as well as the Principality of

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

. He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1993. In 2014, the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

conferred on him the S.K. Singh Award for Excellence in

. This award was conferred upon him during his post as Deputy Chief of Mission to

Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

Early life and education

George was born in

Pala, Kerala Pala () is a Municipalities of Kerala, municipality in the Kottayam district of Kerala, India. It is located north of the district headquarters in Kottayam and about north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. As per the 2011 Indian census, ...

. He is a gold medallist graduate of St. Thomas College, Palai and has a Master of Arts in Political Science. He also holds a diploma in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

from

The American University in Cairo The American University in Cairo (AUC; ) is a private research university in New Cairo, Egypt. The university offers American-style learning programs at undergraduate, graduate, and professional levels, along with a continuing education program. ...

Career

Joining the

in 1993, George began his diplomatic career in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

where he served in the Mission as Political Officer. Subsequently he moved to the Indian Embassy in

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

where he handled Consular, Community, Information and Media affairs as First Secretary. Later he served as Political Counsellor in Indian High Commission in

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

and as Political Counsellor and Commercial Counsellor at Indian Embassy in

Washington DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

. He also served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Indian Missions in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and

. At headquarters of Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi, he served in East Asia Division and also as coordinator of India–Africa Forum Summit. He later headed Administration, Establishment and Welfare Divisions in the Ministry of External Affairs. He was accredited as the Ambassador of India to

, the

(Vatican City) and the Principality of

in November, 2017 and

in 2020. During his post, he handled the high profile visits of Prime Minister

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

in January 2018, who visited Switzerland to deliver the keynote address at the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting 2018 in

Davos Davos (, ; or ; ; Old ) is an Alpine resort town and municipality in the Prättigau/Davos Region in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of (). Davos is located on the river Landwasser, in the Rhaetian ...

and the recent state visit of President

Ram Nath Kovind Ram Nath Kovind ( ; born 1 October 1945) is an Indian politician and lawyer who served as the president of India from 2017 to 2022. He is the first person from Uttar Pradesh to serve as the president. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Pa ...

to Switzerland. The President also attended an Indian Community and Friends of India reception hosted by Sibi George

Awards

George was presented the S.K. Singh Award for Excellence in Indian Foreign Service by Former Vice President of India

Mohammad Hamid Ansari Mohammad Hamid Ansari (; born 1 April 1937) is an Indian bureaucrat and retired Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer who was the vice president of India from 2007 to 2017. Ansari joined the IFS in 1961. In a diplomatic career spanning 38 year ...

. He was congratulated for his services in aiding the Indian expatriates during the Saudi Arabian Nitaqat scheme, a law aimed at giving preferential employment to locals, and involving a drive to identify illegal migrant workers. The Indian Embassy negotiated solutions for all the Indians needing help. About 100,000 returned home, while the Embassy and the volunteers worked towards regularising the status of 1.4 million Indians who wanted to stay in Saudi Arabia.

Personal life

He is married to artist Joice John Pampoorethu. They have three children.

References

External links

Ambassador’s Bio Data
Embassy of India, Berne * https://www.indembkwt.gov.in/Ambassador.php {{DEFAULTSORT:George, Sibi Living people People from Kerala People from Pala, Kerala Ambassadors of India to Switzerland Ambassadors of India to the Holy See Ambassadors of India to Kuwait Ambassadors of India to Liechtenstein Indian Foreign Service officers 1967 births