Indra Mani Pandey To Be Next BIMSTEC Secretary General, First Indian To Hold The Position

India's outgoing permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, Indra Mani Pandey has been appointed as the Secretary General of BIMSTEC. He will become the first Indian to hold this position.

Indra Mani Pandey, the outgoing Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, will be the next Secretary General of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC). The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced the same through a press release, adding that the experienced diplomat will the first Indian to hold the position of Secretary General of BIMSTEC.

According to the MEA statement, Pandey is an Indian Foreign Service Officer of the 1990 batch and is presently the Ambassador/Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Geneva.

"This is the first time that an Indian will hold the position of the Secretary General of BIMSTEC," the MEA said adding that Indra Mani Pandey will take up the assignment shortly.

The MEA said that having an Indian diplomat, with long experience in multilateral diplomacy, as Secretary General of BIMSTEC will contribute to India’s endeavours in strengthening BIMSTEC.

Besides India, the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) comprises Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan.

This comes days after the ministry appointed Arinam Baghci as the next Ambassador/Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Geneva. Bagchi will be replacing Pandey and will soon take his assignment.

Prior to this appointment in September 2020, Ambassador Pandey served as Director General in charge of the Disarmament and International Security Affairs Division from August 2018 to August 2020 at the Ministry of External Affairs, according to United Nations Institute of Training and Research.

He has earlier served as Ambassador to Oman from August 2015 to July 2018, and Deputy Ambassador to France from January 2013 to July 2015. His other portfolios include Director of Counter Terrorism and Director of the Americas Division of the Ministry of External Affairs, and Counsellor (disarmament) at the Permanent Mission to the Conference on Disarmament from September 2003, in addition to postings in Islamabad and Kabul.