India Appoints Geetika Srivastava as Woman Charge d'Affaires for Pakistan Mission

By: WE Staff | Tuesday, 29 August 2023

Geetika Srivastava has been named India's Charge d'Affaires (CDA) in Pakistan, which is a momentous development in diplomatic history. Since India gained independence, a woman has never led the country's diplomatic mission outside of its boundaries.

Geetika has been appointed to take on the significant role of Charge d'Affaires in Islamabad. She is a capable diplomat from the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) 2005 batch. Her nomination comes at a time when Pakistan and India both still maintain a diminished diplomatic presence in each other's capitals. She'll adhere to Dr. M. Suresh Kumar. Instead of High Commissioners, the highest-ranking diplomats are CDAs, who share a status level with Joint Secretaries.

In her current role as Joint Secretary at the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) headquarters, Geetika is in charge of the Indo-Pacific division. She has a range of experiences, including a stint from 2007 to 2009 in the Indian Embassy in China, where she got Mandarin language instruction. She has also held executive positions at the Regional Passport Office in Kolkata and the MEA's Indian Ocean Region division.

The majority of India's ambassadors in Pakistan have been men ever since the country was founded in 1947. There have always been 22 chiefs of mission, thus this is a significant departure from tradition. After Article 370 was abolished in 2019 and Pakistan reduced the capacity of the High Commission, Ajay Bisaria, India's last High Commissioner to Islamabad, was called back.

The fact that female ambassadors have occasionally—though not always—been sent to Pakistan is important. Due to the arduous nature of the job and the recent declaration of Islamabad as a "non-family" posting for Indian diplomats, women officers were limited in their ability to occupy jobs in Pakistan.

The First Secretary position in the Indian High Commission is now held by a woman diplomat.

With Geetika's appointment, India and Pakistan's diplomatic relationship is poised to enter a new phase. She is in a good position to handle the challenges of this important role due to her extensive experience, knowledge of international politics, and shown leadership skills.

Government sources claim that Geetika would shortly begin functioning in Islamabad.

Saad Ahmad Warraich has been appointed as the nation's new CDA in New Delhi. He formerly worked at Pakistan's Permanent Mission to the UN in New York. Warraich succeeds Salman Sharif, who just concluded his tenure in office in India and has now returned to Islamabad.