TS Tirumurti appointed as India's Permanent Representative to United Nations

Veteran diplomat TS Tirumurti has been appointed as India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations on Wednesday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Wednesday. Tirumurti, a 1985-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, is currently serving as Secretary in the MEA.

"Tirumurti has been appointed as the next Ambassador/Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations at New York," the MEA said in a statement.

Tirumurti replaces senior diplomat Syed Akbaruddin, who was always at the forefront of effectively putting up India's stand on crucial issues at the UN for several years. He took charge of the office in January 2016 and he is due for retirement shortly.

Joint Secretary Deepak Mittal, who is presently serving as joint secretary in the Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran (PAI) division of the MEA, was appointed as India's Ambassador to Qatar, while another seasoned diplomat, Piyush Srivastava, has been named India's next Ambassador to Bahrain. 

The government has also appointed Jaideep Mazumdar as India's ambassador to Austria. Mazumdar is currently serving as Indian envoy to the Philippines.

Namrata S Kumar as has been appointed as India's next ambassador to the Republic of Slovenia.