NEW YORK, May 20: Seasoned diplomat T S Tirumurti arrived here to assume charge as India’s new Permanent Representative to the United Nations.
A 1985-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, Tirumurti succeeds Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin, who retired on April 30 and returned to Hyderabad on May 14.
Tirumurti, 58, who arrived in New York on Tuesday on an Air India flight, is expected to present his credentials to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres at the earliest.
Currently, telecommuting arrangements are in place at the UN Headquarters till June 30 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Before being appointed as the Permanent Representative to the UN, Tirumurti served as the Secretary for Economic Relations in the Ministry of External Affairs.
The UN General Assembly will hold elections next month for five non-permanent seats of the UN Security Council for the 2021-22 term.
India’s seat as a non-permanent member on the 15-nation Security Council for the two-year term is assured as it is the sole candidate vying for the lone seat from the Asia Pacific grouping.
New Delhi’s candidature was unanimously endorsed by the 55-member Asia-Pacific grouping, including China and Pakistan, in June last year. (PTI)
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