India

Interview to come.

Biography: 
Born: December 2, 1957
Professional experience:
Member of the Indian Foreign Service since 1980.
Sep 2014 – Jan 8, 2016 : Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs
Dec 2013 – Aug 2014 : Special Secretary (Int. Organisations & Pol.), MEA
Aug 2012 – Dec 2013 : Additional Secretary (Int. Organisations & Pol.), MEA
Nov 2008 – Aug 2012 : Ambassador of India to the State of Israel
Oct 2002 – Sept 2008
:
Official Spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs.
Sept 1998 – June 2002
:
Minister/Counsellor, Embassy of India, Washington DC
May 1997 – Aug 1998
:
Counsellor, Embassy of India, Tehran
Jan 1994 – March 1997
:
Counsellor, Permanent Mission of India to the UN, Geneva
Apr 1993 – Jan 1994
:
Deputy Secretary (UN), Ministry of External Affairs.
April 1992 – April 1993
:
Deputy Chief of Protocol, Ministry of External Affairs.
July 1989 – April 1992
:
First Secretary, Embassy of India, Thimphu
Oct 1985 – June 1989
:
Second Secretary/ First Secretary, Embassy of India, Warsaw
Oct 1983 – Sept 1985
:
Officer on Special Duty(PR), Ministry of External Affairs.
Sept 1982 – Oct 1983
:
Third Secretary, Embassy of India, Moscow
Sept 1980 – Sept 1982 : Indian Foreign Service Probationer, MEA.

Publications:
Second Thoughts: On Books, Authors and the Writerly Life – Harper Collins 2015
Indians at Herod’s Gate: A Jerusalem Tale – (Rupa) 2014
“Savage Harvest” – (Trans.) Short Stories (Rupa) 2013
“Winter Evenings” – Short Stories (Rupa Rainlight) 2012
“Zafarnama” (Trans.) – Penguin India (Viking) 2011
“The Exile” – novel, Penguin India (Viking) 2008
“We Weren’t Lovers Like That” – novel, Penguin India, 2003
“The Book of Nanak”, Penguin India, 2003
“Folk Tales of Poland” Sterling, 1991
Regular contributor to the Times Literary Supplement (UK) and several Indian journals

Education:
Bachelor of Commerce; Bachelor of Laws, Delhi University
Diploma in Journalism
Speaks English, Hindi, Punjabi; Knowledge of Russian and Polish
Married to Dr. Avina Sarna; one son and one daughter