Arindam Bagchi is an Indian diplomat. In March 2021, he became the spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs. He has been serving the Government of India since 1995. He started his career by working as Third Secretary/Second Secretary at the Embassy of India, Madrid, where he worked for two and a half years from 1997 to 2000.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Arindam Bagchi was born in Kolkata, West Bengal. He did his schooling from Delhi Public School. He did his undergraduate studies from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, where he graduated in 1992. After this he did postgraduate studies at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He completed his post-graduation in 1994.
Family
Arindam Bagchi belongs to a Bengali family from Kolkata.
wife and children
His wife’s name is Ananya Bagchi, who is a painter. They have a son named Pablo Bagchi.
Arindam with his wife, Ananya, and son, Pablo
Indian Foreign Service
Arindam Bagchi joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1995.
Arindam Bagchi in the 1995 batch of IFS officers
Third Secretary/Second Secretary
From 1997 to 2000, he worked as Third Secretary/Second Secretary in 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 at the Embassy of India in Lima, Peru for more than four years, from 2000 to 2004.
Deputy Secretary
In 2004, he returned to India, where he was appointed as Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs; He remained in this post for 3 years.
First Secretary/Consultant
In May 2007, he was appointed as First Secretary/Counselor in the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations, New York, USA for three years.
director
After returning to India in 2010, he remained Director in the Prime Minister’s Office for more than four years until 2014.
Deputy High Commissioner
He was appointed as the Deputy High Commissioner to the High Commission of India in Colombo, Sri Lanka, where he served from June 2014 to September 2018.
messanger
In November 2018, he was appointed as Ambassador to the Embassy of India in Zagreb, Croatia for one year and eight months.
Joint Secretary
In June 2020, he became Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs in India.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson
On 14 March 2021, Arindam Bagchi was appointed the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs in India.
Arindam Bagchi at a press conference as the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs
Criticism of Ilhan Omar’s visit to Pakistan
Ilhan Omar is a US Congresswoman. On his four-day visit to Pakistan in April 2022, he visited Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), a region of Kashmir that is considered a disputed territory between India and Pakistan. India condemned his visit and called it ‘narrow-minded politics’. In the past too she has been continuously raising the issue of human rights violations in India. In a press meeting at the Ministry of External Affairs, when Arindam Bagchi was asked a question about his visit, he replied,
We note that he has visited a part of the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, which is currently illegally occupied by Pakistan. If such a politician wants to pursue his narrow minded politics at home then that can be his business but in pursuit of this violating our territorial integrity and sovereignty makes it ours and we feel that this visit is condemnable.
pegasus spyware issue
In 2017, it was claimed by The New York Times that India had purchased Pegasus spyware from Israel as part of its $2 billion defense deal. Pegasus is a joint initiative for investigative journalism. It is a phone-hacking software created by Israel’s NSO Group Technologies, capable of reading text messages, tracking calls, collecting passwords, location tracking, accessing the target device’s microphone and camera, and obtaining information from apps. Is. Several Indian ministers, politicians, activists, businessmen and journalists were potentially targeted by Pegasus. Responding to this, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs Arindam said,
The alleged case mentioned is being investigated by a committee constituted by the Supreme Court. The Ministry of External Affairs does not have any information available on this matter. As far as the Prime Minister’s visit to Israel in 2017 is concerned, MoUs were signed, the details of which are publicly available.
hijab controversy
The hijab controversy took place in Karnataka in February 2022. The controversy occurred when some junior college Muslim girls who wanted to wear hijab to their classes were refused entry to the college campus as it was against the college’s uniform policy. A counter-protest was led by students wearing saffron shawls who were against allowing hijab-wearing students to enter the college. Many social activists and organizations expressed their views on this issue, some took their stand in favor of hijab, while others were against it. Pakistan’s side commented on the controversy without complete knowledge of the issue. Rashad Hussain, the United States Ambassador for International Religious Freedom, also expressed his views on the hijab controversy and said,
Religious freedom includes the ability to choose one’s religious dress. The Indian state of Karnataka should not determine whether religious clothing is permitted. Hijab bans in schools violate religious freedom and stigmatize and marginalize women and girls.
To put an end to such comments, Arindam took to Twitter to respond. He said,
“Motivated comments on our internal issues are not welcome.”
Our response to media queries on India’s response to comments by some countries on dress code in some educational institutions in Karnataka:https://t.co/Mrqa0M8fVr pic.twitter.com/pJlGmw82Kp
– Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) 12 February 2022
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) delivered its message to the United Nations and the Human Rights Council calling for “necessary measures” to protect Muslim students over the hijab controversy. OIC said,
The OIC Secretary General once again urges India to ensure the safety, security and well-being of the Muslim community while protecting the way of life of its members and bringing to justice the instigators and perpetrators of violence and hate crimes against them “
When asked at a press meeting about the statement made by the OIC a day earlier, Arindam Bagchi replied,
In India issues are considered and resolved in accordance with our constitutional framework and mechanisms as well as democratic ethos and politics. The communal mindset of the OIC Secretariat does not allow proper appreciation of these realities. “The OIC continues to be hijacked by vested interests to further their nefarious propaganda against India.”
Facts/General Knowledge
- Arindam’s favorite subject is mathematics.
- He likes learning new languages.
- He likes traveling and photography.
- His favorite game is chess, and he was invited as a guest at the 2019 Croatia Grand Chess Tour in Zagreb, where Indian chess grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand was playing.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn