Ruchira Kamboj, a senior diplomat from the 1987 batch of Indian Foreign Service (IFS), has taken charge as India’s new permanent representative to the United Nations (UN) after presenting her credentials to UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres. This appointment is historical because it makes Kamboj the first Indian woman to hold the position. Making the announcement on Twitter, Kamboj revealed that it was a “privilege to be the first Indian woman to be given the honour to hold this position,” and further gave a clarion call to all women and girls: “To the girls out there, we all can make it!”
A seasoned diplomat, Kamboj’s last assignment was as India’s envoy to Bhutan. She has now succeeded TS Tirumurti as the Indian envoy to the UN, and will be serving at the headquarters in New York. Other women ambassadors at the UN’s Council include Linda Thomas-Greenfield from the USA, Barbara Woodward from the UK, and Mona Juul from Norway.
This is not the first time Kamboj has broken the glass ceiling for women. She was the all-India women’s topper of the 1987 UPSC batch, and topped the foreign services batch of the same year. She was posted to Paris, France, from 1989-1991, after which she worked as the Under-Secretary to the Europe West Division of the Ministry of External Affairs from 1991-1996. She then served as the First-Secretary (Economic and Commercial) and Head of Chancery at the Indian High Commission in Port Louis, Mauritius, from 1996-1999. She has also served as the High Commissioner to South Africa from 2017-2019, after which, she was posted to Bhutan.
Image courtesy: Twitter/RuchiraKamboj