List of high commissioners of India to Pakistan

Last updated

High Commissioner of India to Pakistan
Incumbent
Dr. M. Suresh Kumar
(Deputy High Commissioner)
Residence G-5 Diplomatic Enclave, Islamabad
Nominator President of India
Appointer Ministry of External Affairs
Term length Not fixed
Formation1947
First holder Sri Prakasa
Website High Commission of India, Islamabad

The following people have served as high commissioners or ambassadors from India to Pakistan. Pakistan vacated its membership in the Commonwealth of Nations from January 1972 until August 1989. From 1999 until 2004, and during 2007-2008, Pakistan was suspended from the Commonwealth of Nations.

Contents

After the Abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties with India, suspending the then-Indian High Commissioner. [1] Since then, the mission is being headed by the Charge d'Affaires.

In August 2023, a 2005-batch IFS officer, Geetika Srivastava was appointed Charge d'Affaires, becoming the first woman to head the Indian mission in Pakistan. [2]

List of high commissioners to Pakistan

High commissioners of India to the Dominion of Pakistan (1947-1956)

NameEntered officeLeft office
Sri Prakasa 19471949
Sita Ram19491951
Mohan Singh Mehta19521955
C.C.Desai19551956

High commissioners of India to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (1956-1971)

NameEntered officeLeft office
C.C.Desai19561958
Rajeshwar Dayal 19581962
G Parthasarathi 19621965
Kewal Singh 19651966
Samar Sen 19681969
B. K. Acharya19691971
Jai Kumar AtalOctober 1971December 1971

(Suspension of diplomatic relations following the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War )

Ambassadors of India to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (1976-1989)

NameEntered officeLeft office
Katyayani Shankar Bajpai 19761980
K. D. Sharma 19821985
S. K. Singh 19851989
J. N. Dixit April 1989August 1989

High commissioners of India to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (1989-1999)

NameEntered officeLeft office
J. N. DixitAugust 1989November 1991
Satinder Kumar LambahJanuary 1992July 1995
Satish Chandra August 1995December 1998
Gopalaswami Parthasarathy February 1999October 1999

Ambassadors of India to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (1999-2004)

NameEntered officeLeft office
Gopalaswami Parthasarathy October 1999May 2000
Vijay K. Nambiar August 2000December 2001
Suspension of diplomatic relations until 2003
Shivshankar Menon July 2003May 2004

High commissioners of India to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (2004-2007)

NameEntered officeLeft office
Shivshankar MenonMay 2004September 2006
Satyabrata Pal September 2006November 2007

Ambassadors of India to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (2007-2008)

NameEntered officeLeft office
Satyabrata PalNovember 2007May 2008

High commissioners of India to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (2008-present)

NameEntered officeLeft office
Satyabrata PalMay 2008February 2009
Sharat Sabharwal April 2009June 2013
TCA Raghavan [3] [4] July 2013December 2015
Gautam Bambawale [5] December 2015September 2017
Ajay Bisaria September 2017August 2019 [6]
After the Revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019, Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties with India. Since then, the diplomatic mission is being headed by the Charge d'Affaires.
M. Suresh Kumar (Charge d'Affaires)August 20192023 [7]
Geetika Srivastava (Charge d'Affaires)TBAIncumbent [8]

Notes

    Related Research Articles

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Ambassador</span> Diplomatic envoy

    An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sovereign or appointed for a special and often temporary diplomatic assignment. The word is also used informally for people who are known, without national appointment, to represent certain professions, activities, and fields of endeavor, such as sales.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian Foreign Service</span> Central civil service of the Government of India.

    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.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Ministry of External Affairs (India)</span> Indias Foreign Ministry

    The Ministry of External Affairs of India is the government agency responsible for implementing Indian foreign policy. The Ministry of External Affairs is headed by the Minister of External Affairs, a Cabinet Minister. The Foreign Secretary, an Indian Foreign Service officer, is the most senior civil servant who is the head of the Department of Foreign Affairs. The Ministry represents the Government of India through embassies and is also responsible for India's representation at the United Nations and other international organizations and expanding and safeguarding India's influence and Indian interests across the world by providing developmental aid to other countries worth billions of dollars. It also advises other Ministries and State Governments on foreign governments and institutions.

    In the Commonwealth of Nations, a high commissioner is the senior diplomat, generally ranking as an ambassador, in charge of the diplomatic mission of one Commonwealth government to another. Instead of an embassy, the diplomatic mission is generally called a high commission.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Ranjan Mathai</span> Indian diplomat

    Ranjan Mathai is an Indian civil servant of the IFS cadre who was a former Indian Foreign Secretary and Indian High Commissioner to the UK. Prior to this, he served as Foreign Secretary of India from 1 August 2011 to 31 July 2013.

    Arvind Gupta is a career civil servant of the Indian Foreign Service cadre and former Indian Deputy National Security Advisor serving from 2014 to 2017. He was the ex officio Secretary, National Security Council Secretariat. He served as the Director General of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses from January 2012 till his appointment to the post of Deputy NSA.

    Anshuman Gaur is an Indian Foreign Service officer of 2001 batch. On 25 February 2019, he was appointed as the deputy chief of mission of India, in the Indian High Commission in Ottawa, Canada. After his stint as director, he was appointed as the private secretary to Information Technology, Law & Justice, Communications & Electronics Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, in December 2017. He was serving as director in the Ministry of External Affairs. Earlier, he served as the officer on special duty (OSD) to the vice president of India from June 2017 to August 2017. He also writes poetry in English. He was featured writer for 2017 poetry contest conducted by Word Weavers.

    TCA Raghavan is a former Indian diplomat who was a 1982 batch officer of the Indian Foreign Service. He has considerable experience in South Asia policy issues and considered an expert on Pakistan studies, including heading the Joint Secretary the Division of the Ministry of External Affairs in Pakistan Afghanistan and Iran (PAI) division. From 6 June 2013 till his retirement on 31 December 2015 Raghavan was the High Commissioner of India to Pakistan. After retirement he has authored two books- the first a biography of two Mughal nobles and the other a study of India Pakistan relations. In July 2018 he was appointed Director General of the Indian Council of World Affairs.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Vijay Keshav Gokhale</span> Indian diplomat

    Vijay Keshav Gokhale IFS, born 24 January 1959, is a retired Indian diplomat and the 32nd Foreign Secretary of India. Gokhale previously served as the Ambassador of India to China.

    Gautam Bambawale is an Indian diplomat and served as the Indian Ambassador to China from 2017 to 2018. He had previously served as the Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Harsh Vardhan Shringla</span> Indian diplomat (born 1962)

    Harsh Vardhan Shringla is Chief Coordinator for India’s G20 Presidency in 2023. He has previously served as Foreign Secretary of India and India's Ambassador to the United States, High Commissioner to Bangladesh, and Ambassador to Thailand.

    Anurag Srivastava is an Indian civil servant who belongs to the Indian Foreign Service cadre. He served as spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, India.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Afrasiab Mehdi Hashmi</span> Pakistani diplomat and author

    Afrasiab Mehdi Hashmi is a Pakistani diplomat and author. He served as Pakistan's High Commissioner to Bangladesh from 2011 to 2014, and as High Commissioner to New Zealand from 2016 to 2017.

    Satinder Kumar Lambah, also known as Sati Lambah, was an Indian civil servant of 1964 batch of Indian Foreign Service cadre who served as the Prime Minister of India's Special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan between 2005 and 2014. He is also known for building a Strategic partnership agreement with Russia when he was an envoy in Moscow between 1998 and 2001.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Embassy of the Philippines, Damascus</span> Diplomatic mission of the Philippines in Syria

    The Embassy of the Philippines in Damascus is the diplomatic mission of the Republic of the Philippines to the Syrian Arab Republic. Opened in 2009, it is located in the Western Villas district of the Mezzeh municipality in southwestern Damascus, near the Presidential Palace.

    References

    1. "Article 370 revoked: Pakistan expels Indian envoy, suspends bilateral trade". Business Standard. 7 August 2019. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
    2. "Geetika Srivastava to be first woman chargé d'affaires in Indian mission in Pak". Hindustan Times. 28 August 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
    3. "Gautam Bambawale replaces TCA Raghavan, to be next envoy to Pakistan". firstpost.com. 23 December 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
    4. "Outgoing Indian envoy TCA Raghavan visits PM Nawaz". tribune.com.pk. 29 December 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
    5. "Gautam Bambawale appointed as high commissioner to Pakistan". business-standard.com. 24 September 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
    6. "Pakistan expels Indian envoy Ajay Bisaria". The Economic Times. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
    7. "2006 batch IFS officer Suresh Kumar appointed as India's Charge d'Affaires to Pakistan". ThePrint. 12 December 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
    8. "Geetika Srivastava is first woman charge d'affaires at Indian mission in Pak". mint. 28 August 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.