New Delhi:

India’s diplomacy stands out globally for its ability to balance ties between adversaries. The latest example of this is happening this week. As foreign minister S Jaishankar touches down in New Delhi after a five-day visit to the US for Donald Trump’s inauguration, foreign secretary Vikram Misri heads to China to foster ties with Beijing.

Just ten days ago, during a visit to Spain, foreign minister S Jaishankar had said India is one of the very few countries in the world that can engage both Russia and Ukraine, as well as Israel and Iran. “This is something very, very unique. And it is unique because if you look at the world today, it is a very polarised world,” he said.

Donald Trump has threatened to impose hefty tariffs on China and even the BRICS+ countries, which India is a member of as well. China, the world’s second-largest economy, has warned that it will retaliate, should Washington actually follow through. President Trump has also targeted China over its presence in the Panama Canal and said the US will take control of the waterway even if it means involving the military. China, on the other hand, has warned Washington over its involvement with Taiwan. Both nations have sanctioned each other.

ENGAGING ALL SIDES

Amid all this, India, which according to PM Modi, has “always chosen the side of peace”, aims to engage all sides for positive and constructive outcomes. Earlier this week, S Jaishankar strengthened India-US bilateral ties when he met the US Secretary of State and National Security Adviser for their first foreign engagements after the Trump administration took over. As PM Modi’s special envoy, Dr Jaishankar was also given the first seat at the US President’s inauguration.

As he returned after concluding “a very positive” visit to Washington, India’s foreign secretary heads to Beijing to build the momentum in India-China ties following a meeting between PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Russia late-last year. Foreign Secretary Misri’s visit was preceded by a visit by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval last month when he met Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi.

REBUILDING AFTER THE STORM

India and China, two of Asia’s leading economies and the world’s most populous nations, are working to boost bilateral ties after a four-and-a-half-year-long military standoff along the Line of Actual Control or LAC brought ties to a grinding halt. After dozens of rounds of talks – both diplomatically and militarily – an agreement was reached and troops on both sides pulled back from the buffer zones, returning the status quo-ante. This happened within a week of PM Modi and Xi Jinping announcing it during a meeting in Russia late last year. Following this, Chinese and Indian foreign and defence ministers also met each other on multilateral occasions.

After Ajit Doval, foreign secretary Vikram Misri’s will be the second high-level visit by an Indian official to Beijing in a month.

A WELCOME FROM BEIJING

China has welcomed Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri’s visit this weekend and sounded positive about its outcome. “We welcome Foreign Secretary Shri Vikram Misri’s travel to China for the meeting of the Foreign Secretary-Vice Minister mechanism between China and India,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs also said that “Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri will be visiting Beijing on January 26 and 27 for a meeting of the Foreign Secretary-Vice Minister mechanism between India and China. The resumption of this bilateral mechanism flows from the agreement at the leadership level to discuss the next steps for India-China relations, including in the political, economic, and people-to-people domains.”

THE AGENDA

Besides bilateral issues such as boundary talks, maintaining peace along the LAC, the building of the world’s largest dam on the Brahmaputra, resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, people-to-people ties, resuming direct flights between the two countries, and facilitate the issuance of visas to Chinese citizens, the two sides are also likely to touch upon issues of mutual global interest.

“All matters of mutual interest will be discussed,” the foreign ministry said at a press briefing in New Delhi ahead of the foreign secretary’s visit.

The BRICS+, where both countries are threatened with massive tariffs, might figure in talks as well, as would the latest sanctions threat to countries dealing with Russia and buying Russian oil – again a common threat to both countries. Regional issues such as the situation in the Middle East and in Syria are likely to be discussed too.

US backing out of the Paris Climate agreement and the WHO, as well as the much-needed reform of the United Nations and the Security Council are likely to be discussed as well.

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Vikram Misri is visiting China for a meeting of the foreign secretary-vice minister mechanism

Vikram Misri is visiting China for a meeting of the foreign secretary-vice minister mechanism

Dhaka:

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri arrives in Dhaka on Monday morning to discuss bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh, officials said. This is the first high-level official visit after the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus took over in Bangladesh.

The visit comes amid recent reports of rise in violence against minorities in Bangladesh and the arrest of spiritual leader Chinmoy Krishna Das in Chittagong.

The delegation led by the foreign secretaries of the two countries is expected to discuss the overall issues of bilateral relations by participating in the Foreign Office Consultation (FOC) mechanism established between the two countries.

On December 4, Press Secretary to the Chief Advisor of Bangladesh’s interim government, Shafiqul Alam, said that the Foreign Secretaries of the two countries would hold talks on issues of mutual interest.

In September this year, the Foreign Adviser (Minister) of the interim government of Bangladesh Md. Touhid Hossain had met the Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. They decided to maintain “good working relationship” and also decided to hold FOC between India and Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, reports of attacks on minorties continue in Bangladesh. On December 6, another Hindu temple was allegedly set on fire in the outskirts of Dhaka. The Mahabhagya Lakshminarayan Mandir, at Dhor village, in North of Dhaka came under attack on late Friday night.

Babul Ghosh, supervisor of the temple said that a complaint has been filed against unidentified miscreants for burning down his ancestral temple.

Speaking with ANI, Mr Ghosh said that the attackers poured petrol on the idols while he was not present at the house and ran away on hearing his footsteps.He further alleged that the attackers had some “ulterior motives” other than burning the idols.

Spiritual leader Chinmony Krishna Das also continues to be under arrest on alleged sedition charges. The Ministry of External Affairs has pressed the Bangladesh interim government to ensure that the legal rights of the individual are respected and that his trial is fair and transparent.

Chinmoy Krishna Das, who is associated with the Sammilita Sanatani Jagaran Jote, was arrested in Dhaka on November 25 on ‘sedition’ charges. The arrest followed a complaint file on October 31 by a local politician that accused Chinmoy Das and others of disrespecting Bangladesh’s national flag during a rally of the Hindu community. On December 3, a Bangladesh court set January 2, 2025 as the next date of hearing in the case.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

India on Friday announced that Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri will travel to Bangladesh on Monday, a visit that comes amid increasing strain in ties between New Delhi and Dhaka over attacks on minorities, including Hindus, in the neighbouring country.

It will be the first high-level visit from New Delhi to Dhaka after deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled Bangladesh and took shelter in India following massive anti-government protests.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said Mr Misri will travel to Bangladesh to attend a meeting under the framework of Foreign Office Consultations.

In Dhaka, the foreign secretary will hold talks with his Bangladeshi counterpart, besides holding several other meetings, he said.

“The foreign secretary is scheduled to visit Bangladesh for Foreign Office Consultations on December 9. This is part of our structured interactions with the Bangladesh side,” Mr Jaiswal said.

Mr Jaiswal was responding to a question at his weekly media briefing.

On the arrest of Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das in Bangladesh, the MEA spokesperson said India expects a fair, just and transparent legal process in the case.

“We have spoken on this issue earlier. We would like to reiterate our expectation that relevant legal processes underway in Bangladesh are executed in a fair, just and transparent manner, ensuring full respect for the legal rights of concerned individuals,” he said.

The relations between India and Bangladesh came under strain after the interim government headed by Muhammad Yunus came to power in the neighbouring country. The relations deteriorated further in recent weeks over attacks on Hindus and the arrest of Chinmoy Das.

The attacks triggered protests in India. The Bangladesh foreign ministry summoned the Indian envoy recently and lodged a protest over the storming of the Bangladeshi mission in Agartala by a group of protesters.

India last week said the interim government in Bangladesh must live up to its responsibility of protecting all minorities as it expressed serious concern over the “surge” of extremist rhetoric and increasing incidents of violence against Hindus.

India had also hoped that the case relating to Chinmoy Das, arrested on the charge of sedition, will be dealt with in a just and fair manner.

Chinmoy Das was arrested at Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport last month in connection with a sedition case.
 

New Delhi:

Seasoned diplomat Vikram Misri, widely regarded as an expert on China and national security, assumed charge as India’s new foreign secretary on Monday.

Mr Misri, a 1989-batch Indian Foreign Service officer who was serving as the deputy national security advisor, succeeded Vinay Kwatra.

The 59-year-old assumed charge of the key position at a time India is looking to navigate various geo-political challenges, including its frosty ties with China following the lingering eastern Ladakh border row and the consequences of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

External affairs Minister S Jaishankar congratulated Misri on assuming his new responsibility. “Congratulate Foreign Secretary @VikramMisri as he assumes his new responsibility today. Wish him a productive and successful tenure,” he said on X.

Mr Misri served in various capacities at the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in the Prime Minister’s Office and in various Indian missions in Europe, Africa, Asia and North America.

He has the rare distinction of serving as private secretary to three prime ministers — Inder Kumar Gujral, Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi. As per norms, Mr Misri is set to have a minimum tenure of two years as the foreign secretary.

“Shri Vikram Misri assumed charge as Foreign Secretary today. #TeamMEA extends a warm welcome to Foreign Secretary Misri and wishes him a successful tenure ahead,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on X.

Before he was appointed as the deputy NSA, Mr Misri served as India’s ambassador to China from 2019-2021.

Mr Misri is believed to have played a key role in talks between India and China after tensions flared significantly following the Galwan Valley clashes in June, 2020.

The ties between the two countries nosedived following a fierce clash in the Galwan Valley that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades.

In his illustrious career, Mr Misri also served as India’s ambassador to Spain (2014-2016) and Myanmar (2016-2018) besides having stints in many Indian missions, including Pakistan, the US, Germany, Belgium and Sri Lanka.

Mr Misri was born in Srinagar and had his early education there (Burn Hall School and DAV School) as well as in Udhampur (Carmel Convent School) in Jammu and Kashmir. He finished his schooling from the Scindia School in Gwalior and went on to earn a Bachelor’s degree with honours in history from the Hindu College in the University of Delhi and an MBA from XLRI, Jamshedpur.

Before joining the government, he worked for three years in the private sector in the fields of advertising and advertising film-making. Mr Misri is a Fellow of the Aspen Institute USA’s India Leadership Initiative (now the Kamalnayan Bajaj Fellowship). He is married to Dolly Misri and they have two children.

The government is in the process of appointing India’s next envoy to the US and New Delhi’s permanent representative to the United Nations in New York.

Kwatra is learnt to be among the front-runners for the ambassador’s position in Washington. The post has been lying vacant since Taranjit Sandhu retired in January. The position of India’s permanent representative to the UN is also lying vacant after Ruchira Kamboj retired last month.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)