The art of the possible: Meet Vinay Mohan Kwatra, foreign secy-designate

Kwatra, who takes charge as foreign secretary in May, has served in Geneva, the Indian consulate in Durban, China, Russia

Two factors contributed to Vinay Mohan Kwatra’s (57) appointment as foreign secretary, the job he superseded two colleagues to secure: One, his tenure as joint secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO); and the other as Ambassador to Nepal.

Narendra Modi became prime minister in May 2014 and, almost immediately, was to leave for the BRICS summit in Brazil. He needed to have officers fluent in Hindi, and lore has it Kwatra (whose Hindi is fluent, along with his French and Russian) helped quickly find officials who could help with interpretation. Subsequently, the establishment noted his contribution and Kwatra moved