New Delhi: In a recent development, the Appointment Committee of the Cabinet on Wednesday approved the appointment of Muketsh Kumar Pardeshi, Special Secretary of G20 operations, as the new Secretary for Consular, Passport, and Visa (CPV) and Overseas Indian Affairs (OIA) at the Ministry of External Affairs.
Pardeshi will assume the role following the superannuation of Dr. Ausaf Sayeed on September 30.
The government order stated, “The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Muktesh Kumar Pardeshi, Special Secretary (G20 Operations) as Secretary (CPV & OIA), Ministry of External Affairs vice Dr Ausaf Sayeed upon his superannuation on September 30 this year.”
Pardeshi, a seasoned diplomat who joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1991, served as India’s Ambassador to Mexico from 2016 to 2019. Prior to that, he held key positions in Jakarta and Geneva. Between 1993 and 2001, he contributed significantly to Indian Missions in Mexico, Colombia, and Nepal. From 2001 to 2004, he served as Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi.
The decision to appoint Pardeshi also stems from the fact that the Narendra Modi government is focusing on a people-centric diplomacy approach.
Pardeshi played a pivotal role in ensuring organisation of the G20 summit and earlier contributed immensely to modernise the passport issuance system in India as the Chief Passport Officer in the MEA when he led the passport sewa project.