Vikram Misri (born 7 November 1964) is an Indian

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

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 ...

, currently serving as the 35th

Foreign Secretary of India The foreign secretary (ISO: ''Vidēś Saciv'') is the topmost non-elected official and the administrative head of the Ministry of External Affairs. This post is held by an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer of the rank of secretary to the g ...

since July 2024. Previously, he served as the Deputy

National Security Advisor of India The National Security Advisor (NSA) is the senior official on the National Security Council of India, and the chief advisor to the Prime Minister of India on national security policy and international affairs. Ajit Doval is the current NSA, servi ...

from January 2022 until July 2024, and as the ambassador of India to China from January 2019 to December 2021. Previously, he has served as the private secretary to three Prime Ministers:

Inder Kumar Gujral Inder Kumar Gujral (4 December 1919 – 30 November 2012) was an Indian diplomat, politician, and anti-colonial independence activist, who served as prime minister of India from April 1997 to March 1998. Born in Punjab, he was influenced by ...

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (26 September 1932 – 26 December 2024) was an Indian economist, bureaucrat, academician, and statesman, who served as the prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He was the fourth longest-serving prime minister after Jaw ...

and

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 ...

, and also as the Indian ambassador to Spain and Myanmar.

Early life and education

Misri was born in

Srinagar Srinagar (; ) is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the tertiary ...

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory since 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (prin ...

in a

Kashmiri Pandit The Kashmiri Pandits (also known as Kashmiri Brahmins) are a group of Kashmiri Hindus and a part of the larger Saraswat Brahmin community of India. They belong to the Pancha Gauda Brahmin group from the Kashmir Valley, located within the In ...

family. Misri attended

Burn Hall School Burn Hall School is an all boys missionary school in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir, India. Its motto is ''"Industria Floremus - In Toil We Flourish"''. It is one of the oldest schools in the valley. The school ...

and DAV School in

. He then studied at Carmel Convent School in

Udhampur Udhampur (ˌʊd̪ʱəmpur) is a city and a municipal council in Udhampur district in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters of Udhampur District. Named after Raja Udham Singh, it serves as the district capit ...

and at

Scindia School The Scindia School is a residential boys’ school established in 1897 and situated in the Gwalior Fort in Gwalior, India. Initially called the Sardar’s School, it primarily served the sons of Indian royals and nobles. In 1933, the school bega ...

Gwalior Gwalior (Hindi: , ) is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; It is known as the Music City of India having oldest Gwalior gharana, musical gharana in existence. It is a major sports, cultural, industrial, and political c ...

. Later, he completed his undergraduate degree in history from the

Hindu College, Delhi Hindu College is a constituent college of the University of Delhi. Founded in 1899, it is one of the oldest colleges in India, offering undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in the Science and technology studies, sciences, humanities and c ...

. He also completed an MBA degree at the

XLRI – Xavier School of Management XLRI – Xavier School of Management, formerly Xavier Labour Relations Institute, is a Private school, private business school run by the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, India. It was founded in 1949 in the steel city ...

Jamshedpur Jamshedpur (; ), also known as Tatanagar, is a major industrial city in eastern India. It is the List of cities in Jharkhand by population, largest city in the state of Jharkhand. With a population of 629,658 in the city limits and 1.3 million ...

Career

After completing his education, Misri worked for three years in advertising. He did stints with

Lintas MullenLowe Lintas Group, formerly Lintas, is an Indian advertising marketing communications company. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Interpublic Group (IPG), and is part of the multinational MullenLowe Group. As of July 2023, M ...

India in Mumbai and Contract Advertising in Delhi, and advertising film making. He joined the

in 1989. Between 1991 and 1996, he served in various capacities in the Indian missions in Brussels, Tunis, Islamabad and Washington D.C. He was appointed the Private Secretary to Prime Minister

in 1997. Following this, he had various stints in the Prime Minister's Office and Ministry of External Affairs, as well as several Indian missions abroad. he remained India’s Ambassador to Spain in 2014, Ambassador to Myanmar in 2016 and Ambassador to China, January 2019 to December 2021. In 2012, he was appointed the private secretary to Prime Minister

. He continued to serve in that capacity when Singh was succeeded by

. He was appointed the ambassador to Spain in 2014. He was appointed the ambassador to Myanmar in 2016. In 2019, he was appointed the ambassador to China. He was the ambassador during the

2020–2021 China–India skirmishes Beginning on 5 May 2020, People's Liberation Army, Chinese and Indian Army, Indian troops engaged in aggressive melee, face-offs, and skirmishes at locations along the Sino-Indian border, including near the disputed Pangong Lake in Ladakh and t ...

and held a series of meetings with senior Chinese officials, including

Liu Jianchao Liu Jianchao (; born February 23, 1964) is a Chinese diplomat and politician who is the current head of the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party, in office since June 2022. Liu was formerly the chief spokesperson for China's ...

to discuss the tensions. He was appointed as the Deputy National Security Adviser (NSA) from 1 January 2022.

Foreign Secretary

On 28 June 2024, it was announced that Mr. Misri would succeed

Vinay Mohan Kwatra Vinay Mohan Kwatra, (born 15 December 1962) is an Indian diplomat of Indian Foreign Service who served as the 34th Foreign Secretary of India, from May 2022 until July 2024 and is currently serving as Ambassador of India to the United States ...

to assume the post of

. On 15 July 2024, he became the 35th

Personal life

Misri is married to Dolly and has two children. He is fluent in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

, and

Kashmiri Kashmiri may refer to: * People or things related to the Kashmir Valley or the broader region of Kashmir * Kashmiris, an ethnic group native to the Kashmir Valley * Kashmiri language, the language of the Kashmiris ethnic group People with the nam ...

and has a working knowledge of

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

. He is a fellow of ASPEN Institute USA's India leadership initiative, now known as the Kamalnayan Bajaj Fellowship.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Misri, Vikram 1964 births Living people Scindia School alumni Hindu College, Delhi alumni People from Srinagar XLRI – Xavier School of Management alumni Kashmiri people Kashmiri Hindus Kashmiri Pandits Indian Foreign Service officers Ambassadors of India to China Ambassadors of India to Spain Ambassadors of India to Myanmar Indian Foreign Secretaries