Draft:Mridul Kumar
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Mridul Kumar | |
|---|---|
| File:Ambassador Mridul Kumar.jpg | |
| Indian Ambassador to Switzerland & Liechtenstein | |
| Assumed office 19 June 2023 | |
| Preceding | Sanjay Bhattacharya |
| Indian High Commissioner to Malaysia | |
| Assuming office 14 February 2018 | |
| Succeeding | B N Reddy |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 9 April 1969 (Age 56) |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Alma mater | Delhi College of Engineering, Oxford University (the UK), Cambridge University (the UK) |
| Occupation | Indian Foreign Service |
| Profession | Civil Servant, Diplomat |
Mridul Kumar (born 9 April 1969 in Delhi) is a career diplomat belonging to 1992-batch of Indian Foreign Service. He has been serving as Ambassador of India to Switzerland with concurrent accreditation to the Principality of Liechtenstein since 19 June 2023.[1]
Before joining his present position, Kumar served as Additional Secretary in charge of European affairs in the Ministry of External Affairs. He previously served as India's High Commissioner to Malaysia from February 2018 to July 2021[2] and as the Consul General in Cape Town, South Africa from June 2009 to June 2012.[3]
Educational background
[edit | edit source]Kumar did his schooling from Ludlow Castle School in Delhi and subsequently graduated from Delhi Technological University (formerly Delhi College of Engineering) in 1990 with distinction in Electronics and Communications. A Chevening Scholar, he received a diploma in Foreign Service Program (2000–2001) from Balliol College, University of Oxford. He attended Management programme from Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore and another course on Leadership and Management from Cambridge Judge Business School (2013).[3]
Career
[edit | edit source]Kumar has varied experience of diplomatic assignments, having worked in Indian Missions in Egypt (1994–1996), Morocco (1996–1999) and the UK (2002–2005). He was India's representative at the Commonwealth and International Maritime Organisation during 2002-2005.[3]
At Headquarters, Kumar worked in the United Nations (1998–1999) and West Europe (2001–2002) Divisions as Desk Officer. He served as the Deputy Chief of Protocol (DCP-Ceremonial) from September 2005 to March 2007. He was the Chef de cabinet in the office of MOS for External Affairs and Information & Broadcasting from April 2007 to June 2009.[3]
As DCP-Ceremonial at Headquarters, Kumar handled about 100 incoming and outgoing visits at the Head of State and Head of Government levels, including landmark state visits of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia (January 2006), French President Jaques Chirac (February 2006), the US President George Bush to India for the Indo-US nuclear deal (March 2006), Chinese President Hu Jintao (November 2006) and President Putin of Russia (January 2007), among others.
Kumar was Joint Secretary in the Ministry in charge of Coordination, Parliament and VIP Division (November 2012-May 2013) and then headed the Gulf & Hajj Division (May 2013- February 2018). He was the coordinator for the annual Hajj pilgrimage in 2014, 2015 and 2016. He also coordinated the evacuation of Indian nationals from Iraq (2014) and Yemen (2015) during war times. During 2013-15, he travelled a number of times to war-torn Iraq and Yemen on official assignments on behalf of Government of India.[4][5][6]
Kumar was in-charge of two major international conferences as the Chief Coordinator - the 16th World Sanskrit Conference in Bangkok (28 June- 2 July 2015) and the 10th World Hindi Conference in Bhopal (10-12 September 2015).[7]
As Indian Ambassador to Switzerland, Kumar was actively involved in finalisation of the India-EFTA Free Trade Agreement which was signed in March 2024 after 16 years of protracted negotiations. Promoting trade and investment ties, he has engaged with Swiss business leaders and has participated in major forums like the World Economic Forum, including hosting Indian official delegations at Davos in 2024 and 2025.[8][9][10][11]
Prior to joining the Indian Foreign Service, Kumar briefly worked as probationary officer in the Indian Railways (Signals and Telecommunication) in 1991-92 after qualifying Indian Engineering Service Examination.[3]
Personal life
[edit | edit source]Kumar speaks fluent Hindi, English and Arabic. His hobbies include trekking, cricket, painting, cookery and Indian music. He led a group of over 40 pilgrims to Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra in 2009. He visited Antarctica in 2011 as a member of Indian team.
Kumar is married to late Mrs. Sumita Goyal and they have two daughters (27 and 25 years old). Their elder daughter Vidisha Goyal is pursuing PhD from Georgia Tech Atlanta in Biomedical Engineering and is a recipient of highly coveted fellowship from American Heart Association. The younger daughter Bipasha Goyal is pursuing Master of Engineering in Life Sciences from EPFL, Lausanne in Switzerland.
References
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- ^ https://hcikl.gov.in/home/About-Us/High-Commissioners-of-India-to-Malaysia
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- ^ https://www.mea.gov.in/press-releases.htm?dtl/25246/10th
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