Kanwal Sibal | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 24th Foreign Secretary of India | |
| In office 12 March 2001 –29 June 2002 | |
| Prime Minister | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| Preceded by | Chokila Iyer |
| Succeeded by | Shashank |
| Personal details | |
| Occupation | Diplomat |
Kanwal Sibal is a career diplomat who retired as Foreign Secretary to the Government of India. In 2017,The Government of India awarded him with the Padma Shri award for his distinguished services in the field of Public Affairs. [1] [2]
He was born on 18 November 1943 to noted Lawyer Hira Lall Sibal,Padma Bhushan awardee.
He graduated with an MA in English from Punjab University. Dr. Kanwal Sibal later graduated from the World Information Distributed University with the scientific degree of International Doctor of Philosophy and the scientific degree of Grand Doctor of Philosophy,in June 2006. Dr. Kanwal Sibal is the First Grand Doctor of Philosophy in India. He received the title of Full Professor from the European Academy of Informatization and the World Information Distributed University-WIDU. [3]
He was appointed to the Indian Foreign Service in July 1966.
He served in Paris (August 1968 to July 1973),Dar es Salaam (August 1976 to October 1979),Lisbon (February 1980 to July 1982),and Kathmandu (July 1982 to September 1985). Dr. Sibal also served as Joint Secretary (Administration/West Europe) in the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India from January 1986 to April 1989,the Ambassador of India to Turkey (April 1989 to July 1992),the Deputy Chief of Mission,Embassy of India,Washington (August 1992 to September 1995),the Ambassador of India to Egypt (September 1995 to March 1998),the Ambassador of India to France (March 1998 to June 2002) and Ambassador to Russia (2004 to 2007). [4]
During Sibal's tenure as Ambassador of India to France in 1999,a diplomat at the embassy,Amrit Lugun,was accused by his family's live-in servant,Lalita Oraon,of sexual abuse after she had escaped from Lugun's household. [5] The French media and public was horrified to learn that Oraon had suffered "knife wounds,three to 6cm deep,all around the vagina" and the injuries were "consistent with an act of torture or deliberate mutilation" according to the description of an examining doctor to French media. [5] [6] In the face of pressure on bilateral ties,Sibal continued to support Lugun and refused to remove him pending any probe. [5] [7] When the Ministry of External Affairs attempted to send an Additional Secretary level official for further enquiry,an "enraged" Sibal complained to the Prime Minister's Office and had the investigation cancelled. India Today noted there was a "political colour" to Sibal's actions as his brother Kapil was a "high-profile Congress spokesman and Lugun's mother-in-law Sushila Kerketta a Congress MLA." [6]
He was a member of India's National Security Advisory Board from November 2008 to November 2010. [8]
In 2023,he became the chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University. [9]
Kanwal Sibal's father was H.L. Sibal,a renowned advocate who was rendered homeless along with his entire family during partition. In 1994,H.L. Sibal was named a "Living Legend of the Law" by the International Bar Association and in 2006.
Indian National Congress politician and former Cabinet Minister Kapil Sibal is Kanwal's younger brother. Virender Sibal,Jitendar Sibal (both retired IAS officers) and Ms. Asha Nanda are his other siblings. [10]
Jyotindra Nath Dixit was an Indian diplomat,who as served as Foreign Secretary (1991–1994),the top bureaucrat in the Ministry of External Affairs. At the time of his death,he was the National Security Adviser (India) to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and is most remembered for his role as a negotiator in disputes with Pakistan and China.
Kapil Sibal is an Indian lawyer and politician. A designated Senior Advocate,he has represented several high-profile cases in the Supreme Court of India and is widely regarded as one of the famous lawyers of India. He is a Member of Parliament,in Rajya Sabha.
KōichirōMatsuura is a Japanese diplomat. He is the former Director-General of UNESCO. He was first elected in 1999 to a six-year term and reelected on 12 October 2005 for four years,following a reform instituted by the 29th session of the General Conference. In November 2009,he was replaced by Irina Bokova.
Sibal is an Indian (Khatri) surname.
The Indian Foreign Service (IFS) is the diplomatic service and a central civil service of the Government of India under the Ministry of External Affairs. The Foreign Secretary is the head of the service. Vinay Mohan Kwatra is the 34th and the current Foreign Secretary.
Nawab Ali Yavar Jung Bahadur was an Indian diplomat. He served as Indian Ambassador in Argentina,Egypt,Yugoslavia and Greece,France,and the United States.
Abid Hussain was an Indian economist,civil servant and diplomat. He was India's ambassador to the United States of America from 1990 to 1992 and a member of the Planning Commission from 1985 to 1990.
Shivshankar Menon is an Indian diplomat,who served as National Security Adviser of India under Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh. He had previously served as the Foreign Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs. Prior to that he was Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan,and Sri Lanka and ambassador to China and Israel. He is currently Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for Social and Economic Progress. He is also Visiting Professor of International Relations at Ashoka University.
K.B. Lall,ICS (1917–2005) was an eminent civil servant of India and a member of ICS. He was Defence Secretary of India during the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971. Earlier,he served as Commerce Secretary as well as Ambassador to the European Common Market,as the European Union was then known.
Brajesh Chandra Mishra was an Indian diplomat from the Indian Foreign Service and politician,best known for serving as Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's principal secretary and National Security Advisor from 1998 to 2004. He received Padma Vibhushan for his contribution
Shamma Jain is an Indian senior diplomat who served as the Indian ambassador to Greece from June 2017 up to October 2019. She has also served as the ambassador of India to Panama,Costa Rica,Nicaragua,Ivory Coast,Liberia,Sierra Leone and Guinea from 2008 to 2011. Aside from serving as an ambassador,Jain has worked in other diplomatic positions,including as the Deputy Chief of Mission in Rome,political counsellor in the United States,and at the permanent delegation of India to UNESCO in Paris.
Kewal Singh Choudhary (1915–1991) was an Indian diplomat,Foreign Secretary and India's ambassador to the USSR,Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan and USA. He was a 1955 recipient of the Indian civilian honour of Padma Shri.
Subrahmanyam Jaishankar is an Indian diplomat and politician serving as the Minister of External Affairs of the Government of India since 30 May 2019. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party and a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha since 5 July 2019. He previously served as the Foreign Secretary from January 2015 to January 2018. He became the second ever diplomat to be appointed as India's External Affairs minister,after Natwar Singh.
Monika Kapil Mohta is a diplomat of the Indian Foreign Service,who served as the Ambassador of India to Switzerland since August 2020. She holds the rank of Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs and was previously the Ambassador of India to Sweden and Latvia and the Ambassador of India to Poland and Lithuania.
Amrit Lugun is the Ambassador of India to Greece.
Krishna Gopal Saxena (1912–2003) was an Indian homoeopathic physician. Born on 25 September 1912 in Delhi,he did his schooling at Karachi and Ambala and graduated in homoeopathic medicine from the Calcutta Homoeopathic Medical College.
Rajeshwar Dayal (1909–1999) was an Indian diplomat,writer,Ambassador of India to the former state of Yugoslavia and the Head of the United Nations Operation in the Congo. Born on 12 August 1909,Dayal was one of the earlier officers of the Indian Foreign Service. He served as the Indian ambassador to the now defunct Yugoslavia from 1955 to 1958 and moved to the UN as a member of the United Nations Observation Group in Lebanon (UNOGIL) when the organization was established in 1958.
Hira Lal Sibal was an Indian lawyer,jurist and two-time Advocate General of Punjab and Haryana,known for his legal defence of cases against the noted Urdu writers,Ismat Chugtai and Saadat Hasan Manto in 1945. He practised at Punjab and Haryana High Court and the Supreme Court of India.
Chandrashekhar Dasgupta was an Indian civil servant,diplomat and writer who served as Indian ambassador to the European Union,Belgium,Luxembourg and China.
Alexander Mikhailovich Kadakin was a Russian diplomat and the Russian Ambassador to India from 2009 until his death in 2017. Kadakin had earlier served as the ambassador to India between 1999 and 2004. He was a noted Indophile. Kadakin died from heart failure while in service in New Delhi in 2017. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2018.
