Vikas Swarup
Vikas Swarup (born 22 June 1961) is a retired Indian diplomat and writer. He retired from the Indian Foreign Service as the Secretary (West) at the Ministry of External Affairs, India on 30 June 2021 and has previously served as High Commissioner of India in Canada and has been the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs. He was best known as the author of the novel Q & A, adapted in film as Slumdog Millionaire, the winner of Best Film for the year 2009 at the Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards and BAFTA Awards.
Vikas Swarup | |
|---|---|
Swarup in 2007 | |
| Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs | |
| In office 1 December 2019 – 30 June 2021 | |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Minister | Subrahmanyam Jaishankar |
| Preceded by | A. Gitesh Sharma |
| Succeeded by | Reenat Sandhu |
| Secretary of Consular, Passport, Visa and Overseas Indian Affairs | |
| In office 1 August 2019 – 1 December 2019 | |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Minister | Subrahmanyam Jaishankar |
| Preceded by | Dnyaneshwar Mulay |
| Succeeded by | Sanjay Bhattacharya |
| High Commissioner of India to Canada | |
| In office 3 March 2017 – 1 August 2019 | |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Minister | Sushma Swaraj Subrahmanyam Jaishankar |
| Preceded by | Vishnu Prakash |
| Succeeded by | Ajay Bisaria |
| Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs | |
| In office 18 April 2015 – 28 February 2017 | |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Minister | Sushma Swaraj |
| Preceded by | Syed Akbaruddin |
| Succeeded by | Gopal Baglay |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 22 June 1961 Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Spouse | Aparna Swarup |
| Alma mater | University of Allahabad |
| Occupation |
|
| Known for | Q & A (2005) Six Suspects (2008) The Accidental Apprentice (2013) |
| Website | vikasswarup |
Swarup joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1986 and served in Turkey, the United States, Ethiopia, the United Kingdom, South Africa and Japan in various Indian diplomatic missions. His other novels are Six Suspects and The Accidental Apprentice. In April 2015, he was appointed as the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs of India to head its Public Diplomacy divisions at New Delhi, succeeding Syed Akbaruddin.
In December 2019, Swarup took charge as Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs, looking after relations with Europe, Central Asia as well as the United Nations system.