Vinay Kwatra

Vinay Mohan Kwatra joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1988. His assignments included Geneva, Tashkent, Durban, and Karachi, followed by service as deputy chief of mission in Beijing and at the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation secretariat in Kathmandu. From 2010 to 2013 he headed the Washington embassy's commercial work. ¹

Kwatra subsequently led foreign ministry divisions dealing with policy planning, the Americas, and counterterrorism and served in the prime minister's office. He was ambassador to France, with responsibility for UNESCO, then ambassador to Nepal and foreign secretary from May 2022 to July 2024. He assumed the Washington ambassadorship on 12 August 2024. ¹

At Lehigh University in November 2025, Kwatra advocated exchanges that would bring more American students and researchers to India as well as Indian students to the United States. In a discussion moderated by former U.S. ambassador Richard Verma, he presented education, emerging technology, energy, and defense as connected areas of bilateral cooperation. ²