Vijay Keshav Gokhale

Vijay Keshav Gokhale IFS, born 24 January 1959,[7] is a retired Indian diplomat and the 32nd Foreign Secretary of India. Gokhale previously served as the Ambassador of India to China.[8]

Vijay Keshav Gokhale
32nd Foreign Secretary of India
In office
29 January 2018[1] – 28 January 2020
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
MinisterSushma Swaraj
Subrahmanyam Jaishankar
Preceded bySubrahmanyam Jaishankar
Succeeded byHarsh Vardhan Shringla
Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs
In office
21 October 2017[2] – 29 January 2018
Preceded byAmar Sinha
Succeeded byT. S. Tirumurti
Indian Ambassador to China
In office
20 January 2016[3] – 21 October 2017[3]
Preceded byAshok Kantha
Succeeded byGautam Bambawale[4]
Indian Ambassador to Germany
In office
1 October 2013 – 20 January 2016[5]
Preceded bySujatha Singh
Succeeded byGurjit Singh
Personal details
Born (1959-01-24) 24 January 1959 [6][7]
NationalityIndian
Alma materUniversity of Delhi
OccupationIFS
ProfessionCivil Servant

Personal life & education

Gokhale hails from Pune.[9] He did his schooling at the St. Columba's School, Delhi and completed his MA in History from University of Delhi before joining the Indian Foreign Service in 1981.[10] He is fluent in Marathi, Hindi, English, Sanskrit[11] and Mandarin Chinese.[12] He is married to Vandana Gokhale and they have a son, Jayant Gokhale.

Career

Gokhale is an Indian Foreign Service officer of the 1981 batch.[12] He served in Indian diplomatic missions in Hong Kong, Hanoi, Beijing and New York.[7] He served as the Deputy Secretary (Finance), Director (China and East Asia) and Joint Secretary (East Asia) at the Ministry of External Affairs, India.[13]

Gokhale was the High Commissioner of India to Malaysia from January 2010 to October 2013[13] and the Indian Ambassador to Germany from October 2013 to January 2016.[14] He was the Indian Ambassador to China from 20 January 2016 to 21 October 2017.[3] He is currently a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the New Delhi-based think tank, Carnegie India. Gokhale is one of India's most reputed and well-versed sinologists.

Expertise

Vijay Gokhale is considered as an expert on Chinese affairs.[15] He has the rare distinction of being the only Indian Foreign Service officer to have served in both mainland China and Taiwan.[16] He was the Director General of the India-Taipei Association, Taiwan.[17] Gokhale during his tenure as the Ambassador of India to China, played a key role in resolving the 2017 Doklam crisis between both the nations.[12][18] Statements and actions since the beginning of his tenure indicate that he will push a moderate or dovish position on relations with China.[19] In June 2020 Gokhale stated that China is not seeking a New World Order.[20]

Publications

In 2021 he published a research paper titled "The Road from Galwan"[21] examining different factors influencing the Galwan Valley clash between India and China in Eastern Ladakh, along the Line of Actual Control, and the way forward for the two Himalayan neighbors. Gokhale announced his very first book titled "Tiananmen Square - The Making of a Protest" which is an eye-witness account of the 1989 brutal military crackdown in China and its aftermath from an Indian perspective.

  • Tiananmen Square: The Making of a Protest. Harper Collins, May 2021. ISBN 9789354225369
  • The Long Game: How the Chinese Negotiate with India. Penguin Random House. July 2021. ISBN 9789354921216

See also

References
  1. "Vijay Gokhale takes over as foreign secretary: Fixing neighbourhood policy, checking China's rise top priorities - Firstpost". www.firstpost.com. 29 January 2018.
  2. Feeds, IANS (29 June 2017). "Beijing envoy Vijay Keshav Gokhale is new Secretary (ER)".
  3. "Embassy Of India, Beijing". indianembassybeijing.in.
  4. "Gautam Bambawale India's next ambassador to China". 12 October 2017.
  5. "Previous Ambassadors - Embassy of India,Berlin - Germany". 22 April 2018. Archived from the original on 22 April 2018.
  6. "Civil list" (PDF). 1 April 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 April 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  7. "Welcome to High Commission of India, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)". 8 February 2013. Archived from the original on 8 February 2013.
  8. "Vijay Keshav Gokhale appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the People's Republic of China". gov.in. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  9. "विजय केशव गोखले यांनी परराष्ट्र सचिवपदाचा कार्यभार स्वीकारला". 29 January 2018.
  10. "Vijay Gokhale to succeed S Jaishankar as foreign secretary: Veteran diplomat's China expertise will be key". Firstpost. 2 January 2018.
  11. "विजय गोखले". 3 January 2018.
  12. Haidar, Suhasini (6 January 2018). "Who is Vijay Gokhale, the China expert in the hot seat". The Hindu. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  13. PTI. "Vijay Gokhale, an Expert on China and East Asia, Assumes Charge as Foreign Secretary - The Wire". thewire.in.
  14. "Previous Ambassadors - Embassy of India,Berlin - Germany". www.indianembassy.de.
  15. "Vijay Gokhale to succeed S Jaishankar as foreign secretary: Veteran diplomat's China expertise will be key - Firstpost". www.firstpost.com. 2 January 2018.
  16. Chaudhury, Dipanjan Roy (30 January 2018). "Vijay Keshav Gokhale, expert on China, is new Foreign Secretary". The Economic Times.
  17. "Vijay Keshav Gokhale Succeeds Jaishankar as Foreign Secretary". January 2018.
  18. "Vijay Gokhale, Who Helped Resolve Doklam Standoff, Takes Charge as Foreign Secretary". 29 January 2018.
  19. "Govt sends out note: Very sensitive time for ties with China, so skip Dalai Lama events". The Indian Express. 2 March 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  20. Gokhale, Vijay (4 June 2020). "China Doesn't Want a New World Order. It Wants This One". The New York Times.
  21. Gokhale, Vijay (10 March 2021). "The Road from Galwan: The Future of India-China Relations". Carnegie India. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
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