Ronen Sen

Nirupam Sen

NEW DELHI : Some of India’s best diplomats, including Ronen Sen, Nirupam Sen and Kanwal Sibal, all of whom have retired from service, are being posted as envoys to key capitals like Washington, D.C., London, Moscow and the United Nations in New York

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government has decided to appoint Ronen Sen, former high commissioner to Britain, as the new ambassador to the U.S., succeeding Lalit Mansingh. A formal approval of the appointment is, however, awaited.

The current envoy in Colombo, Nirupam Sen, will become India’s permanent representative at the U.N. in New York, succeeding Vijay Nambiar, while former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal gets to be New Delhi’s man in Moscow.

According to official sources, Kamlesh Sharma, a former permanent representative to the U.N., will be India's new high commissioner to Britain, while senior diplomat Nirupama Rao, the first woman spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, as the high commissioner to Sri Lanka to take over from Nirupam Sen.

These appointments come in the wake of the appointment of Shyam Saran, the ambassador to Nepal, as the new foreign secretary. Saran will take over from Shashank, who retires on July 31.

Ronen Sen, who retired in April as the high commissioner in London, is considered one of the best and brightest in the Indian Foreign Service (IFS). He has the distinction of having served as envoy to Mexico, Germany, Russia and Britain. He also had a stint at the consulate in San Francisco.

A 1966 batch officer, he was a member of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s inner circle and had served as joint secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in the late 1980’s. He had accompanied Gandhi on most of his foreign trips, numbering over 100.

“He is not merely high-profile, he is brilliant,” says a junior colleague who had served with him. He is one of our best and brightest,” said another. His colleagues and friends say Ronen Sen is the “best possible choice” for the highly demanding position in Washington and they expected India-U.S. ties to take wings during his tenure, despite initial worries about a dip in ties following the return of a Congress Party-led government in New Delhi.

Nirupam Sen, who takes over from Nambiar at the U.N., is a 1969 batch officer who is highly rated for his diplomatic aplomb and skills.

A senior source in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Nirupam Sen was probably the only diplomat based in Colombo to predict victory for Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s United People's Freedom Alliance (UFA) in the April general elections. “He has a capacity to keep his ears to the ground and critically analyze situations,” the source said.

That helped New Delhi to make its move no sooner the new government took office in Colombo, although it must be said India had excellent ties with the previous government of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremsinghe too.

Nirupam Sen, who is senior to Foreign Secretary-designate Saran, has served all over the world –– Russia, Poland, Hungary, Britain, Sri Lanka and Bulgaria.

Nirupama Rao, currently additional secretary in charge of administration in the MEA, will be the first woman to be posted as high commissioner to Sri Lanka, a highly sensitive post considering India’s key but quiet role in helping the island nation in its search for ethnic peace.

Kanwal Sibal, who retired as foreign secretary in November, will take over as ambassador in Moscow in August when K. Raghunath retires. Sibal is the brother of Minister for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal.