Nirupama Rao takes over

By C. Raja Mohan

NEW DELHI, JUNE 12. India now has its first ever spokeswoman on foreign affairs. Ms. Nirupama Rao, a foreign service officer from the 1973 batch, today took over from Mr. Ramindar Singh Jassal as the public face of Indian diplomacy.

The task of running India's external publicity as well as interpreting its foreign policy to the national and international media has been a much sought after one. Until now this high profile appointment has been the preserve of male officers. The appointment of Ms. Rao, who hails from Kerala, marks the breaking of one more glass ceiling against women in the Foreign Office.Mr. Jassal, from the 1976 batch of the IFS and the Foreign Office spokesman for a little over two years, has been posted as the new ambassador to Israel.

Ms. Rao had served in many parts of the world. Her last posting abroad was in Moscow as the Deputy Chief of Mission. Earlier, she was India's ambassador in Peru and before that she was minister- press at the Indian embassy in Washington. Ms. Rao, who topped the 1973 batch of the foreign service, speaks German and Spanish. She steered Indian diplomacy towards East Asia at the turn of the 1990s. Ms. Rao is married and has two children. Her husband, Mr. Sudhakar, is in the Indian Administrative Service.

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