UN, Middle East and Europe -- MEA announced key strategic appointments today

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Wednesday announced four key appointments.

Secretary Economic relations TS Tirumurti will be the new face of India at the United Nations in New York. He will replace Syed Akbaruddin, who also served as a spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs.

Designation of Maulana Masood Azhar as global terrorist, countering and exposing Pakistan's propaganda on Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 or projecting India's pioneering efforts in dealing with climate change, Akbaruddin has played a lead role as India's Permanent Representative.

Secretary Tirumurti has work cut out already as in post-Covid era, United Nations is expected to become a major diplomatic battleground where accountability of the spread of deadly Covid virus may get debated and ultimately may get fixed and also future road map will be charted.

Another strategically important appointment is Deepak Mittal as envoy to Qatar. More than 2 lakh Indian Diaspora members are employed here. Qatar is seen as one of the most advanced Arab country. In the wake of Covid crisis, there are major job losses reported and there are also attempts made by to destabilize India's streamlined relations with the Arab world. Another seasoned diplomat Piyush Srivastava is appointed as Ambassador to Bahrain.

Deepak Mittal, prior to this appointment was handling Pakistan, Afghstan and Iran desk at the headquarters. He played a crucial role in the successful implementation of Kartarpur corridor.

Other important appointments declared by MEA today are -- Jaideep Mazumdar as the next Ambassador of India to Austria and Namrata S Kumar, as the Ambassador of India to the Republic of Slovenia.

( With inputs from ANI )