Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (India) explained

Post:	Official Spokesperson
Body:	the
Insignia:	Ministry of External Affairs India.svg
Insigniasize:	220
Incumbent:	Randhir Jaiswal
Incumbentsince:	3 January 2024
Type:	Joint Secretary
Department:	External Publicity Division (XP)
Abbreviation:	JS-XP and Spokesperson
Seat:	South Block, New Delhi
Appointer:	Ministry of External Affairs

The Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs is an Indian government official whose primary responsibility is to serve as the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs and to deal with other media affairs relating to Indian foreign policy. The spokesperson is usually a joint-secretary rank officer, and formally heads the External Publicity division in the Ministry.^{[1] [2] [3]}

Currently, Randhir Jaiswal, an officer of the 1998 batch of Indian Foreign Service is the Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs.

Roles and functions

The Official Spokesperson and Joint Secretary (External Publicity) is the interface of the Ministry of External Affairs with the media.Its role includes:

• Releasing statements and giving speeches on behalf of the Ministry of External Affairs or of the Government of India informing its official position.
• Issuing Press Releases.
• Responding to Media queries.
• Media briefings.

List of Official Spokespersons

	Name	Photo	From	To	Ref(s)
33	Randhir Jaiswal		3 January 2024	Incumbent	^[4]
32			21 March 2021	2 January 2024	^[5]
31			7 April 2020	20 March 2021	^[6]
30			21 July 2017	6 April 2020	^[7]
29			1 March 2017	20 July 2017
28	Vikas Swarup		18 April 2015	28 February 2017	^[8]
27	Syed Akbaruddin		7 December 2011	18 April 2015
26	Vishnu Prakash		2008	2011
25	Navtej Sarna		2002	2008	^[9]
24	Nirupama Rao		2001	2002	^[10]
23			1999	2001
22			1998	1999
21			1997	1998
20			1997	1997
19			1994	1997
18			1992	1994
17			1988	1992
16			1985	1988
15			1983	1985
14			1982	1983
13			1979	1982
12			1976	1979
11			1973	1976
10			1969	1973
9	A. B. Bhadkar		1968	1969
8	Rikhi Jaipal		1967	1968
7	I. J. Bhadur		1964	1967
6	M. A. Rahman		1962	1964
5			1959	1962
4			1958	1959
3			1955	1958
2	R Ramamirtham		1954	1955
1	V R Bhatt		1949	1954

See also

• Joint secretary to the Government of India
• Spokesperson for the United States Department of State

Notes and References

1. Web site: MEA Spokesperson's Office : Personnel . 2022-04-08 . mea.gov.in.
2. Web site: MEA About MEA : Organization Structure : Divisions . 2022-04-08 . mea.gov.in.
3. Web site: 2021-03-18 . Arindam Bagchi may replace Anurag Srivastava as MEA spokesperson . 2022-04-08 . Deccan Herald . en.
4. News: MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi passes on baton to Randhir Jaiswal . 3 January 2024 . ANI . ANI.
5. News: Arindam Bagchi to be new spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs . 27 July 2022 . Business Standard India . 18 March 2021.
6. Web site: Who is Anurag Srivastava? All you need to know about India's new MEA spokesperson . 2022-09-08 . Free Press Journal . en.
7. Web site: IFS officer Raveesh Kumar to replace Gopal Baglay as MEA spokesperson . 2022-09-08 . Zee News . en.
8. Web site: Vikas Swarup takes over as Spokesperson in MEA . 2022-08-25 . IndianMandarins . en.
9. Web site: Scroll Staff . Former MEA spokesperson Navtej Sarna appointed Indian ambassador to the United States . 2022-08-25 . Scroll.in . en-US.
10. Web site: Bio-profile of Ambassador Nirupama Rao. 2023-03-16. www.indianembassyusa.gov.in/. en-US.