Syed Akbaruddin, a fiery spokesperson, who is credited with effectively presenting India’s position on a range of crucial issues at the UN headquarters in New York for the last several years, has retired. A 1985-batch IFS officer T S Tirumurti, currently serving as Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs will succeed him.

Permanent Missions to the United Nations

• The Permanent Mission is the diplomatic mission that every member state deputies to the UN, and is headed by a Permanent Representative, who is also referred to as the “UN ambassador”.
• Article 1 (7) of the Vienna Convention on the Representation of States provides for a permanent mission.
• UN Permanent Representatives are assigned to the UN headquarters in New York City, and can also be appointed to other UN offices in Geneva, Vienna, and Nairobi.
• The Mission in New York is housed in a 27-story building designed by the noted architect Charles Correa in 1993 and is decorated with MF Hussain paintings.

The Indian Permanent Mission at the UN

• According to the website of the Permanent Mission of India in New York, there are currently eight Indians in senior leadership positions at the UN at the levels of Under-Secretary-General and Assistant Secretary-General.
• The first Indian delegates at the UN included statesman Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar, and freedom fighters Hansa Mehta, Vijayalakshmi Pandit, and Lakshmi Menon.
• Mehta and Pandit were among the 15 women members of the Indian Constituent Assembly.
• India was among the select members of the United Nations that signed the United Nations Declaration at Washington on January 1, 1942.
• India also participated in the historic UN Conference of International Organization at San Francisco from April 25 to June 26, 1945.

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