Foreign Secretary, Due To Retire At End Of Year, Gets 16-Month Extension

India's Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra, who was due for superannuation on December 31 this year, has been granted an extension until April 30, 2024.

In a notification issued today, the Secretariat of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, Ministry of Personnel, said that the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet had approved extension in service to the Foreign Secretary "beyond the date of his superannuation on December 31, 2022, up to April 30, 2024".

This effectively means the Foreign Secretary will be in office until the end of the current government's term in 2024.

Earlier, the Union government had granted extensions to several key bureaucrats, including the Cabinet Secretary, Home Secretary, the chief of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), and the Director of Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Mr Kwatra, a 1988 batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, took charge in May this year as the 34th Foreign Secretary of India, succeeding Harsh Vardhan Shringla. He had earlier served as India's Ambassador to Nepal.

An expert on India's relations with the United States, China and Europe, Mr Kwatra's extension in service as Foreign Secretary comes at a crucial time with India having recently assumed the G20 presidency. The next G20 Summit will be held in New Delhi in September 2023.

Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba's term was extended until August 2023. Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla was also given an extension until August 2023. In June this year, RAW Chief Samant Kumar Goel's tenure was extended for a year.

While ED Director SK Mishra was given his third extension for a year earlier this month, CBI Special Director Praveen Sinha's term was extended for six months this October.

Rajya Sabha Secretary-General PC Mody also had an extension this August for two more years.