Ruchira Kamboj to be India's Permanent Representative to UN
New Delhi, Jun 21: Senior diplomat Ruchira Kamboj was on Tuesday appointed India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York.
Kamboj, a 1987-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, is presently serving as India's envoy to Bhutan.
She will succeed T S Tirumurti as the Indian ambassador to the UN.
Kamboj is expected to take up the assignment shortly, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a brief statement.
Kamboj was the all India women's topper of the 1987 Civil Services batch and the topper of the foreign service batch of that year.
She began her diplomatic journey in Paris, France where she was posted as the Third Secretary in the Indian Embassy to France from 1989-1991.
From Paris, she returned to Delhi where she worked as under secretary in the Europe West Division of the Ministry of External Affairs from 1991 96.
From 1996-1999, she served in Mauritius as First Secretary (Economic and Commercial) and Head of Chancery at the Indian High Commission in Port Louis.
Kamboj served as the high commissioner of India to South Africa, with concurrent accreditation to the Kingdom of Lesotho from July, 2017 to March, 2019.
She assumed charge as Indian envoy to Bhutan on 17 May, 2019.
Kamboj also served as Counsellor at India's Permanent Mission to the UN in New York from 2002-2005.
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India & Israel elevate ties to special strategic partnership, vow to soon conclude free trade deal
Jerusalem (PTI): India and Israel on Thursday elevated their "time-tested" relationship to a special strategic partnership and agreed to soon firm up a "mutually beneficial" free trade deal even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly backed the Gaza peace initiative, asserting that humanity must never become a victim of conflict.
Following talks between Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, the two sides inked a plethora of agreements to expand cooperation in areas of trade, agriculture, energy, cyberspace and digital payment.
India and Israel also vowed to expand their already close defence partnership by working towards joint development and joint production of military hardware under the framework of the transfer of technologies.
In his media statement, Modi said India's security interest is linked to peace and stability in the Middle East, adding that New Delhi fully supports the Gaza Peace Initiative.
"India's stance is clear: humanity must never become a victim of conflict. A path to peace has been created through the Gaza Peace Plan. India has fully supported these efforts," he said.
"In the future as well, we will continue dialogue and cooperation with all countries," he said.
PM Modi landed in Israel on Wednesday on a two-day visit. It is his second visit to Israel in nine years.
In his remarks, the prime minister said India and Israel have a united view that there is no place for terrorism in the world and both sides stand shoulder-to-shoulder in countering terrorism and its supporters.
"Our relationship is founded on the strong bedrock of deep trust, shared democratic values, and human sensitivities. Our bond has stood the test of every trial of time," he said.
"Today, we have taken the historic decision to elevate our time-tested partnership to the status of a 'Special Strategic Partnership'," he said.
The prime minister also announced the establishment of an India-Israel critical and emerging technologies partnership to impart a new momentum for cooperation in areas of artificial intelligence, quantum, and critical minerals. "I am pleased that an agreement has been reached for the use of UPI in Israel," he said.
The prime minister, referring to the threat of terrorism, said India and Israel will continue to confront the menace unitedly.
"India and Israel are completely clear that there is no place for terrorism in the world. In any form, in any expression, terrorism cannot be accepted," he said.
"We have stood shoulder-to-shoulder in opposing terrorism and its supporters, and we will continue to do so," he added.
India and Israel also discussed the implementation of the India-Middle East Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and cooperation under the framework of I2U2 (India-Israel-UAE-USA).
