Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs

Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs
Incumbent Randhir Jaiswal since 3 January 2024
External Publicity Division (XP)
Type	Additional Secretary
Abbreviation	AS-XP and Spokesperson
Seat	Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi
Appointer	Ministry of External Affairs
Website	Official website

The Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs is an Indian government official whose primary responsibility is to serve as the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs and to deal with other media affairs relating to Indian foreign policy. The spokesperson is usually a Joint Secretary or Additional Secretary rank officer, and formally heads the External Publicity division in the Ministry. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Currently, Randhir Jaiswal, an officer of the 1998 batch of Indian Foreign Service is the Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs. ^[1]

Roles and functions

The Official Spokesperson and Joint Secretary (External Publicity) is the interface of the Ministry of External Affairs with the media. Its role includes:

• Releasing statements and giving speeches on behalf of the Ministry of External Affairs or of the Government of India informing its official position.
• Issuing Press Releases.
• Responding to Media queries.
• Media briefings.

List of Official Spokespersons

#	Name	Photo	From	To	Ref(s)
33	Randhir Jaiswal		3 January 2024	Incumbent	[4]
32	Arindam Bagchi		21 March 2021	2 January 2024	[5]
31	Anurag Srivastava		7 April 2020	20 March 2021	[6]
30	Raveesh Kumar		21 July 2017	6 April 2020	[7]
29	Gopal Baglay		1 March 2017	20 July 2017	[7]
28	Vikas Swarup		18 April 2015	28 February 2017	[8]
27	Syed Akbaruddin		7 December 2011	18 April 2015 [8]
26	Vishnu Prakash		2008	2011
25	Navtej Sarna		2002	2008	[9]
24	Nirupama Rao		2001	2002	[10]
23	Raminder Jassal		1999	2001
22	Krishan Chander Singh		1998	1999
21	Pavan Varma		1997	1998
20	Talmiz Ahmad		1997	1997
19			1994	1997
18			1992	1994
17			1988	1992
16			1985	1988
15			1983	1985
14			1982	1983
13			1979	1982
12			1976	1979
11	A. N. D. Haksar		1973	1976
10	Shilendra Kumar Singh		1969	1973
9	A. B. Bhadkar		1968	1969
8	Rikhi Jaipal		1967	1968
7	I. J. Bhadur		1964	1967
6	M. A. Rahman		1962	1964
5	P. N. Menon		1959	1962
4	Ramchundur Goburdhun		1958	1959
3	P. N. Haksar		1955	1958
2	R Ramamirtham		1954	1955
1	V R Bhatt		1949	1954

See also

• Additional secretary to the Government of India
• Joint secretary to the Government of India

References

1. "MEA | Spokesperson's Office : Personnel". mea.gov.in. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
2. "MEA | About MEA : Organization Structure : Divisions". mea.gov.in. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
3. "Arindam Bagchi may replace Anurag Srivastava as MEA spokesperson". Deccan Herald. 2021-03-18. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
4. "MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi passes on baton to Randhir Jaiswal". ANI. ANI. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
5. "Arindam Bagchi to be new spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs". Business Standard India. 18 March 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
6. "Who is Anurag Srivastava? All you need to know about India's new MEA spokesperson". Free Press Journal. Retrieved 2022-09-08.
7. "IFS officer Raveesh Kumar to replace Gopal Baglay as MEA spokesperson". Zee News. Retrieved 2022-09-08.
8. "Vikas Swarup takes over as Spokesperson in MEA". IndianMandarins. Retrieved 2022-08-25.
9. Scroll Staff. "Former MEA spokesperson Navtej Sarna appointed Indian ambassador to the United States". Scroll.in. Retrieved 2022-08-25.
10. "Bio-profile of Ambassador Nirupama Rao". www.indianembassyusa.gov.in/. Retrieved 2023-03-16.