New Delhi:
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao will retire today. The last few weeks had been hectic for her, especially during the India-Pakistan ministerial level talks when Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar was in India for talks with her counterpart SM Krishna.
Ms Rao will now take up her post-retirement job as Indian ambassador to the United States. She will replace Meera Shankar, who has held the post since 2009.
During Ms Rao's term, the Cabinet had amended its rules to ensure that any Foreign Secretary should serve for a period of two years. She had been given a seven-month extension in December.
The 1973-batch IFS officer assumed the office of the Foreign Secretary on August 1, 2009, becoming the second woman to head the Indian Foreign Secretary after Chokila Iyer.
Rao has served in various key positions and had been India's envoy to various countries, including China and Sri Lanka. She has also been the only woman spokesperson in the MEA.
She had earlier served in Washington as a junior diplomat.
(With PTI inputs)