Chokila Iyer is next Foreign Secretary

By C. Raja Mohan

NEW DELHI, DEC. 23. Mrs. Chokila Iyer, Ambassador to Ireland, will be the next Foreign Secretary, it was formally announced here today.

Mrs. Iyer, who hails from Sikkim, will be the first woman to head the Foreign Office. Although the IFS has seen many bright women officers before, none of them could get the top job.

Until now, no woman officer has been appointed even Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs. The Government's decision to break the glass ceiling against women in the diplomatic corps comes as a surprise.

A former Indian woman Ambassador welcoming the decision hoped that this was not a ``token gesture'' and that the political establishment would repose ``full faith'' in Mrs. Iyer.

Mrs. Iyer an IFS officer of the 1964 batch, earlier served as Ambassador to Mexico.

The announcement ends speculation over the past few weeks about the choice of the Foreign Secretary. In choosing Mrs.Iyer, the Government has kept up the principle of seniority.

The senior-most in the service, Mr. Dev Mukherjee, is currently the envoy to Nepal. But he has only a few months to go before retirement. Mrs. Iyer's term will run up to mid-2002.

Mr. Lalit Mansingh, Foreign Secretary, who will retire early next year, has been appointed Ambassador to Washington. Mr. Mansingh will replace Mr. Naresh Chandra, who has been heading India's mission in Washington over the past few years.

The announcement today, while confirming Mr. Mansingh's name for Washington, is silent on the choice for the much-coveted mission in London. Mr. Ronnen Sen, Indian Ambassador to Germany, was widely tipped to get the job. Now it is believed that Mr. Nareshwar Dayal, High Commissioner in London, whose tenure was to end early next year, has got a few months extension.

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