There’s been some heartwarming show of camaraderie by two senior Indian diplomats, Sripriya Ranganathan and Vikram Doraiswami, on Twitter over the last two days. While Ranganathan is posted as India’s envoy in South Korea, Doraiswami, who is currently an additional secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, is headed to Dhaka to take over as India’s high commissioner.
“We build on the foundation of those who go before us. I was fortunate to follow in the footsteps of my dear friend and colleague @VDoraiswami who is now moving on to Bangladesh. I’m sure he will take that relationship to even greater heights!” Ranganathan, a 1994 batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, tweeted on Saturday.
Doraiswami, two years senior to her in the service, responded the following day by saying, “For the key qualities of graciousness and professional capability, there’s little that anyone can ask than to have the good fortune to be both a friend and colleague of @ambsripriya. Honoured to have been her successor in Delhi and predecessor in Seoul simultaneously!”
Now for the back story to this exchange. Doraiswami was India’s envoy in South Korea before he returned to Delhi. Rangananthan succeeded him in Seoul as ambassador. Doraiswami, once back in South Block, took charge of the BM (Bangladesh, Myanmar) division which Ranganathan headed before moving to Seoul.
This Twitter exchange did not go unnoticed by their senior in the IFS, Mohan Kumar, who retired as India’s ambassador to France. “How lovely to see this camaraderie and bonhomie. It is not always like this!” he tweeted.
