Arindam Bagchi is an Indian diplomat. In March 2021, he became the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of India. He has been serving the Government of India since 1995. He started his career as Third Secretary/Second Secretary at the Embassy of India in Madrid, where he worked for two and a half years from 1997 to 2000.
Wiki/Biography
Arindam Bagchi was born in Kolkata, West Bengal. He attended Delhi Public School. He graduated from St Stephen’s College, Delhi in 1992. He then furthered his studies at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He completed his graduate studies in 1994.
family
Arindam Bagchi belongs to a Bengali family in Kolkata.
wife and children
His wife’s name is Ananya Bagchi, a painter. He has a son named Pablo Bacchi.
Arindam with his wife Ananya and son Pablo
indian ministry of foreign affairs
Arindam Bagchi joined the Indian Ministry of External Affairs in 1995.
Arindam Bagchi is a member of the IFS batch of 1995
Third Secret/Second Secret
From 1997 to 2000, he served as Third Secretary/Second Secretary at the Indian Embassy in Madrid, Spain, for a period of two years and six months.
Second Secretary/First Secretary
In 2000, he was appointed as Second Secretary/First Secretary, Embassy of India in Lima, Peru, for a period of over four years, from 2000 to 2004.
vice secretary
In 2004, he returned to India and was appointed Deputy Minister of External Affairs; a position he held for three years.
First Secretary/Counselor
In May 2007, he was appointed First Secretary/Counselor, Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations, New York, United States, for a period of three years.
director
After returning to India in 2010, he served as Director of the Prime Minister’s Office for more than four years until 2014.
deputy high commissioner
From June 2014 to September 2018, he was appointed as the Deputy High Commissioner of India at the High Commission of India in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
ambassador
In November 2018, he was appointed as the Ambassador of the Indian Embassy in Zagreb, Croatia for a term of one year and eight months.
joint secretary
In June 2020, he served as Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of India.
MEA spokesperson
On March 14, 2021, Arindam Bagchi was appointed as the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs of India.
Arindam Bagchi as MEA spokesperson at the press conference
Criticism of Ilhan Omar’s Pakistan visit
Ilhan Omar is a United States Congresswoman. During a four-day visit to Pakistan in April 2022, she visited Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), a region in Kashmir considered a disputed region between India and Pakistan. India condemned her visit, calling it “parochial politics”. She has also frequently raised the issue of human rights violations in India in the past. When asked about the visit at a press conference held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Arindam Bagchi replied:
We noted that she visited a part of the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir that is currently illegally occupied by Pakistan. If such a politician wishes to pursue her narrow-minded politics at home, that may be her business, but the violation of our territorial integrity and sovereignty in the pursuit of that goal makes it our business and we consider this visit It should be condemned. ”
Pegasus spyware issues
In 2017, the New York Times reported that India purchased Pegasus spyware in Israel as part of a $2 billion defense deal. Pegasus is a joint initiative for investigative journalism. It is a phone hacking software created by Israel-based NSO Group Technologies that is capable of reading text messages, tracking calls, collecting passwords, location tracking, accessing the target device’s microphone and camera, and gathering information from apps. Many Indian ministers, politicians, activists, businessmen and journalists are likely to be targeted by Pegasus. In response, MEA Joint Secretary Arindam said:
A committee set up by the Supreme Court is investigating the allegations. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs provided no information on the matter. Regarding the Prime Minister’s visit to Israel in 2017, the two parties signed a memorandum of understanding, the specific contents of which have been made public. ”
headscarf dispute
In February 2022, a hijab controversy broke out in Karnataka. The controversy arose when some Muslim girls in college wanted to wear headscarves to classes but were denied entry to the college campus because it violated the college’s uniform policy. Students wearing saffron shawls led counter-protests against allowing turban-wearing students to enter the college. Many social activists and organizations have expressed their views on the issue, with some supporting the headscarf and others opposing it. Officials from Pakistan commented on the dispute without full knowledge of the issue. Rashad Hussein, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, also expressed his views on the hijab controversy, saying:
Religious freedom includes the ability to choose personal religious clothing. The Indian state of Karnataka should not dictate the permissibility of religious clothing. Hijab bans in schools violate religious freedom and stigmatize and marginalize women and girls. ”
To put an end to such comments, Arindam responded on Twitter. He said,
Motivated comments about our internal matters are not welcome. “
Our response to media inquiries on India’s reaction to comments by some countries on the dress code of some educational institutions in Karnataka: https://t.co/Mrqa0M8fVr pic.twitter.com/pJlGmw82Kp
— Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) February 12, 2022
Regarding the headscarf controversy, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has sent a message to the United Nations and the Human Rights Council to take “necessary measures” to protect Muslim students. The Organization of the Islamic Conference stated,
The OIC General Secretariat further urged India to ensure the safety, security and well-being of the Muslim community while protecting the way of life of its members and to bring to book the instigators and perpetrators of violence and hate crimes against them. “
Asked at a press conference about the OIC statement issued the day before, Arindam Bagchi responded:
India’s problems are considered and resolved in the light of our constitutional framework and machinery and the ethos and polity of democracy. The common mentality of the OIC Secretariat does not allow for a correct appreciation of these realities. The OIC continues to be hijacked by vested interests to further their nefarious propaganda against India. ”
Facts/Trivia
- Arindam’s favorite subject is mathematics.
- He loves learning new languages.
- He enjoys traveling and photography.
- His favorite game is chess and he was invited as a guest at the 2019 Croatian Chess Tour in Zagreb, where Indian chess grandmaster Viswanathan Anand Race here.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education