Ranjan Mathai (born 1952) is an Indian civil servant of the IFS cadre who was a former

Indian Foreign Secretary The foreign secretary of India (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''Videśa Saciva'') is the top diplomat of India and administrative head of the Ministry of External Affairs (India), Ministry of External Affairs. This p ...

and Indian High Commissioner to the UK. Prior to this, he served as Foreign Secretary of India from 1 August 2011 to 31 July 2013.

Early life

Ranjan Mathai was born in

Thiruvalla Thiruvalla, alternately spelled Tiruvalla, is a town in Kerala and the Headquarters of the Taluk of the same name located in Pathanamthitta district in the State of Kerala, India. The town is spread over an area of . It lies on the banks of ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

, India. He did his post graduate studies in Political Science at the

University of Pune Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), formerly the University of Poona, is a collegiate public state university located in the city of Pune, India. It was established in 1949, and is spread over a campus in the neighbourhood of Ganeshk ...

. His father, Thomas Mathai, was a senior faculty member at the

National Defence Academy The National Defence Academy (NDA) is the joint defence service training institute of the Indian Armed Forces, where cadets of the three services i.e. the Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force train together before they go on ...

. His mother Sara was a teacher at Khadakvasla,

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

Career

Ranjan Mathai is a 1974 batch

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 ...

Officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," f ...

.He joined the IFS after completing post graduate studies in Political Science at the

University of Poona Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), formerly the University of Poona, is a collegiate public state university located in the city of Pune, India. It was established in 1949, and is spread over a campus in the neighbourhood of Ganeshk ...

. He has served in Indian Embassies in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo m ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

and

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. As Joint Secretary (BSM) in the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi (January 1995 to February 1998), he headed the Division dealing with India's relations with

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

, Sri Lanka,

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 Wells explai ...

and

Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...

. Mathai has also served as Indian Ambassador to Israel – February 1998 to June 2001, and was the Indian Ambassador in

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

from August 2001 to July 2005. He held the post of Deputy High Commissioner of India to the UK in London from August 2005 to January 2007. He became Ambassador of India to France in January 2007. Ranjan Mathai took over as India's High commissioner to the UK on Monday, 9 December 2013. He succeeded Jaimini Bhagwati. Prior to this he was the Foreign Secretary of India. On 31 July 2013, he demitted office and Sujatha Singh took over as the new Foreign Secretary.Ranjan Mathai assumes charge as Foreign Secretary

Personal life

Ranjan Mathai is married to Geetha Mathai.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathai, Ranjan 1952 births Living people Indian Foreign Secretaries Ambassadors of India to France Ambassadors of India to Israel Ambassadors of India to Qatar Malayali people Savitribai Phule Pune University alumni People from Thiruvalla High Commissioners of India to the United Kingdom Kerala politicians