Islamabad, 29 August 2023 (TDI): Geetika Srivastava, a diplomat from India, is set to become the Chargé d’affaires at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad. She will be the first Indian woman to hold this position.
Her assignment follows the completion of Dr. Suresh Kumar’s term. She will be the most senior Indian diplomat in Pakistan for both countries no longer have high commissioners in each other’s capitals.
Notably, the diplomatic ties between India and Pakistan have also been facing challenges since August 5, 2019, due to changes in the status of Indian-occupied Kashmir.
Geetika Srivastava is a member of the 2005 batch of the Indian Foreign Service. She has previously served in China and is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.
Her background also includes roles as a Regional Passport Officer in Kolkata and a Director in the IOR Division of the Ministry of External Affairs.
Also Read: Jane Marriott appointed as first female British High Commissioner to Pakistan
Currently, she is a Joint Secretary responsible for the Indo-Pacific Division in the Ministry of External Affairs, focusing on India’s multilateral diplomacy with ASEAN, IORA, and other entities in the Indo-Pacific region.
On the other side, Saad Warraich, presently the Director General for Afghanistan, Turkey, and Iran at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Pakistan, has been nominated as Pakistan’s Chargé d’affaires to India.
It’s noteworthy that since there has been no full-time high commissioner between the two countries, junior diplomats have been posted as Chargé d’affaires instead.
Ajay Bisaria was the last Indian high commissioner in Islamabad, but he was expelled in 2019 following India’s decision to change the status of Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Geetika Srivastava’s upcoming assignment continues a trend of female diplomats taking on prominent roles. This follows the appointment of the first woman high commissioner from Great Britain to Pakistan.
