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Shyam Saran (born 4 September 1946) is an Indian career diplomat. He joined the
Indian Foreign Service The Indian Foreign Service (IFS) is the diplomatic service and a central civil service of the Government of India under the Ministry of External Affairs. The Foreign Secretary is the head of the service. Vinay Mohan Kwatra is the 34th and the ...
in 1970 and rose to become the
Foreign Secretary The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...
to the
Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...
. Prior to his appointment as the Foreign Secretary he served as India's ambassador to
Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
,
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
and
Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
and as its High Commissioner to
Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...
. Upon finishing his tenure as the Foreign Secretary, he was appointed the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Indo-US Civil Nuclear Issues and later as Special Envoy and Chief Negotiator on Climate Change. Until 2015, Shyam Saran was the Chairman of the National Security Advisory Board under the National Security Council. He also served as the Chairman of
Research and Information System for Developing Countries Research is "creativity, creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular att ...
 — an autonomous think tank specializing in studies on economic and trade related issues. He regularly comments and speaks on politics and foreign policy issues and is a contributor to multiple magazines and newspapers. In 2011, in recognition of his contribution to the civil service, he was awarded the
Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...
- third highest civilian honor in India.


Early career

He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1970 and subsequently served in different capacities in the Indian diplomatic missions in several capitals of the world including Beijing, Tokyo and Geneva. Prior to his appointment as the Foreign Secretary, he was India’s Ambassador to
Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
,
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
and
Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
and High Commissioner to
Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...
. In the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi, he headed the Economic Division and the Multilateral Economic Division and also headed the East Asia Division which handles relations with China and Japan. As a Joint Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office in 1991/92, he advised the Prime Minister on foreign policy, nuclear and defense related issues. As foreign secretary and later as the special envoy on nuclear issues, he made a significant contribution to the Indo-US nuclear deal.


Foreign Secretary


China

As foreign secretary, he visited
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
in March 2005 for the 15th meeting of the India-China Joint Working Group on the boundary issue.


Stance on nuclear weapons

In April 2006, he said that India has no obligation to define its minimum credible nuclear-deterrent after
United States Assistant Secretary of State Assistant Secretary of State (A/S) is a title used for many executive positions in the United States Department of State, ranking below the under secretaries. A set of six assistant secretaries reporting to the under secretary for political affairs ...
Richard Boucher Richard A. Boucher (born 1951 in Bethesda, Maryland) is an American diplomat who was deputy secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) from 2009 until 2013. He took up post on November 5, 2009. Pr ...
suggested that India "further define" its minimum deterrent. During his tenure, Saran helped negotiate the U.S.–India Civil Nuclear Agreement. In December 2012, he wrote a research article in which, he pointed out that Pakistan's nuclear arsenal expansion has been extended, this time, not to deter India but to deter possible American attack on Pakistan.


Later career

Even though the Prime Minister's Office was willing to extend his tenure as foreign secretary when he was set to retire in September 2006, Amb. Saran did retire. He was an advisor to the Prime Minister specializing in nuclear issues, as well as the Indian envoy on climate change. He quit office on 19 February 2010. He was the Chairman of the ''
Research and Information System for Developing Countries Research is "creativity, creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular att ...
'' (RIS) thinktank and a Senior Fellow at the ''
Centre for Policy Research The Centre for Policy Research (CPR) is an Indian think tank focusing on public policy. Established in 1973 and located in New Delhi, it is one of the national social science research institutes recognized by the Indian Council of Social Scie ...
'' in New Delhi. He is also on the Advisory Board of World Development Forum, an upcoming forum that aims to bring together citizens' groups, development organizations, businesses and governments, to a common platform to produce, evidence-based politically actionable guidance and unlock greater value, through human enterprise. Additionally, Saran is a Member of the Board of Advisors of th
Global Panel Foundation
a respected NGO that works behind the scenes in crisis areas around the world.


Bibliography


Essays and reporting

*


Books

*How India Sees The World: Kautilya To The 21st Century.


See also

*
Navtej Sarna Navtej Singh Sarna (born 1957) is an Indian author-columnist, diplomat and former List of ambassadors of India to the United States, Indian Ambassador to the United States. He previously served as the High Commission of India to the United Kingd ...
*
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 Commissione ...
*
Taranjit Singh Sandhu Taranjit Singh Sandhu is an Indian diplomat and current List of ambassadors of India to the United States, Indian Ambassador to the United States. He previously served as High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka. Career Taranjit Singh Sandhu qua ...
*
Harsh Vardhan Shringla Harsh Vardhan Shringla (born 1962) is Chief Coordinator for India’s G20 Presidency in 2023. He has previously served as Foreign Secretary of India, Ambassador to USA, High Commissioner to Bangladesh and Ambassador to Thailand.


References


External links


Profile
on website of Ministry of External Affairs of India {{DEFAULTSORT:Saran, Shyam Indian civil servants Living people Ambassadors of India to Nepal
1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...
Ambassadors of India to Indonesia Indian Foreign Secretaries 1946 births Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in civil service High Commissioners of India to Mauritius Indian Foreign Service officers 20th-century Indian politicians