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Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs

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Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs
Jaiswal in 2026
since 3 January 2024
External Publicity Division (XP)
TypeJoint Secretary
AbbreviationJS-XP and Spokesperson
SeatShastri Bhawan, New Delhi
Appointer
WebsiteOfficial website

The Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs is an Indian government official whose primary responsibility is to serve as the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs and to deal with other media affairs relating to Indian foreign policy. The spokesperson is usually a Joint Secretary rank officer, and formally heads the External Publicity division in the Ministry.[1][2][3]

Currently, Randhir Jaiswal, an officer of the 1998 batch of Indian Foreign Service is the Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs.[1]

Roles and functions

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The Official Spokesperson and Joint Secretary (External Publicity) is the interface of the Ministry of External Affairs with the media. Its role includes:

  • Releasing statements and giving speeches on behalf of the Ministry of External Affairs or of the Government of India informing its official position.
  • Issuing Press Releases.
  • Responding to Media queries.
  • Media briefings.

List of Official Spokespersons

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#NamePhotoFromToRef(s)
33Randhir JaiswalJaiswal in 20263 January 2024Incumbent[4]
32Arindam Bagchi21 March 20212 January 2024[5]
31Anurag Srivastava7 April 202020 March 2021[6]
30Raveesh Kumar 21 July 20176 April 2020[citation needed]
29Gopal Baglay1 March

2017

 20 July 2017[citation needed]
28Vikas Swarup18 April 201528 February 2017[7]
27Syed Akbaruddin7 December 201118 April 2015[7]
26Vishnu Prakash20082011
25Navtej Sarna20022008[8]
24Nirupama Rao20012002[9]
23Raminder Jassal19992001
22Krishan Chander Singh19981999
21Pavan Varma19971998
20Talmiz Ahmad19971997
19Arif Khan19941997
18Shiv Shankar Mukherjee19921994
17Aftab Seth19881992
16Gopalaswami Parthasarathy19851988
15Salman Haider19831985
14Mani Shankar Aiyer19821983
13J. N. Dixit19791982
12S. V. Purushottam19761979
11A. N. D. Haksar19731976
10Shilendra Kumar Singh19691973
9A. B. Bhadkar19681969
8Rikhi Jaipal19671968
7I. J. Bhadur19641967
6M. A. Rahman19621964
5P. N. Menon19591962
4Ramchundur Goburdhun19581959
3P. N. Haksar19551958
2R. Ramamirtham19541955
1V. R. Bhatt19491954

See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 "MEA | Spokesperson's Office : Personnel". mea.gov.in. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
  2. ↑ "MEA | About MEA : Organization Structure : Divisions". mea.gov.in. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
  3. ↑ "Arindam Bagchi may replace Anurag Srivastava as MEA spokesperson". Deccan Herald. 2021-03-18. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
  4. ↑ "MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi passes on baton to Randhir Jaiswal". ANI. ANI. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  5. ↑ "Arindam Bagchi to be new spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs". Business Standard India. 18 March 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  6. ↑ "Who is Anurag Srivastava? All you need to know about India's new MEA spokesperson". Free Press Journal. Retrieved 2022-09-08.
  7. 1 2 "Vikas Swarup takes over as Spokesperson in MEA". IndianMandarins. Retrieved 2022-08-25.
  8. ↑ Scroll Staff. "Former MEA spokesperson Navtej Sarna appointed Indian ambassador to the United States". Scroll.in. Retrieved 2022-08-25.
  9. ↑ "Bio-profile of Ambassador Nirupama Rao". www.indianembassyusa.gov.in/. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
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