Who Is Vikram Misri? Kashmir-Born Foreign Secretary Who Worked With 3 PMs

Vikram Misri faced online trolling after India's de-escalation agreement with Pakistan. Trollers abused Misri and his family members, including his daughter.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri addresses the media on 'Operation Sindoor' in New Delhi.

Source : PTI

Indian Foreign Service officer Vikram Misri, who is on the front to address the media amid India-Pakistan tensions, faced a wave of online trolling after he announced India's de-escalation agreement with Pakistan. Trolls abused Misri and his family members, including his daughter, soon after he announced the decision on Saturday.

The trolls questioned Misri's patriotism and also released his personal information, following which the Foreign Secretary had to lock his social media account.

Political leaders, including Congress MP Shahi Tharoor, Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav and AIMIM's Asaduddin Owaisi, came in Misri's support.

Who Is Vikram Misri?

The 1989 batch Indian Foreign Service officer assumed charge as Foreign Secretary on 15 July 2024. He has served in various capacities at the Ministry of External Affairs, in the Prime Minister’s Office in New Delhi and in various Indian Missions abroad in Europe, Africa, Asia and North America.

He has worked on the Pakistan desk of the Ministry of External Affairs and on the staff of former foreign ministers IK Gujral and Pranab Mukherjee.

Apart from serving as the Joint Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office, he has also served as Private Secretary to PM Narendra Modi and former prime ministers IK Gujral and Dr. Manmohan Singh.

Ambassador Misri has served in Brussels, Tunis, Islamabad and Washington D.C. He was the Deputy High Commissioner of India in Sri Lanka and the Consul General of India in Munich.

Misri was appointed India's Ambassador to Spain in 2014, Ambassador to Myanmar in 2016 and Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, where he served from January 2019 to December 2021. He was most recently the Deputy National Security Adviser (Strategic Affairs) of India, a post he held from 01 January 2022 to 30 June 2024.

Early Life And Education

Misri was born in Srinagar and had his early education in Burn Hall School and DAV School as well as in Udhampur, Jammu and Kashmir. He finished his schooling from the Scindia School in Gwalior and went for a Bachelor’s degree with Honours in History from the Hindu College, University of Delhi and an MBA from XLRI, Jamshedpur. 

As per the Ministry of External Affairs, Misri worked for three years in the private sector in the fields of advertising (Lintas India - Bombay and Contract Advertising - Delhi) and advertising film-making before joining the government. Misri is a Fellow of the Aspen Institute USA's India Leadership Initiative (now the Kamalnayan Bajaj Fellowship). 

Ambassador Misri is married to Dolly Misri, and they have two children.