Prior to his diplomatic posting to Nepal in 2020, IFS Vinay Mohan served as the Ambassador of India to France from August 2017 to February 2020. He has more than 32 years of experience in foreign service and served in a range of assignments.
After joining the Indian Foreign Service in 1988, he served as Third Secretary and then Second Secretary in the Permanent Mission of India in Geneva until 1993, where apart from learning the French language, he handled work relating to the UN specialized agencies, as also the Human Rights Commission.
Between 1993 and 2003, he served as Desk Officer at Headquarters dealing with United Nations, and subsequently in the Diplomatic Missions in South Africa and Uzbekistan. Between 2003 and 2006, he served as a Counsellor and later as the Deputy Chief of Mission in the Embassy of India, Beijing, China. From 2006 to 2010, he represented India at the SAARC Secretariat in Nepal as head of the Trade, Economy and Finance Bureau.
He also served as Minister (Commerce) in the Embassy of India, Washington, and between July 2013 and October 2015, IFS Kwatra headed the Policy Planning & Research Division of the Ministry of External Affairs and later served as the head of the Americas Division in the Foreign Ministry where he dealt with India’s relations with the United States and Canada. From October 2015 to August 2017, Kwatra served as Joint Secretary in the office of the Prime Minister of India.
