Wing Commander Anjali Singh becomes India's first female military diplomat
Anjali Singh, a 41-year-old IAF officer joined the Indian Embassy in Moscow as Deputy Air Attache on September 10.
Wing Commander Anjali Singh has become the first woman to be appointed as a military diplomat in Indian missions abroad. The 41-year-old IAF officer joined the Indian Embassy in Moscow as Deputy Air Attache on September 10, according to a tweet from the embassy.
Hailing from Bihar, Anjali became a commissioned officer in the Air Force in 2001. She was part of the aeronautical engineering branch of the Air Force and was stationed at Jodhpur. She trained on MiG29 fighter aircrafts and was part of the fighter squadron during her 17 years of service.
India has over 100 diplomatic missions across the world and Anjali has broken through the male-dominated environs of military diplomacy to become the first female woman defence attache in an Indian mission abroad. Reports say that the Indian Navy is also considering appointing women in Indian missions abroad.
Russia is a long-standing strategic partner and source of acquisition of weapons for India since the 1960s. Anjali will assist in cooperation, training and procurement in the field of defence between the two countries. Her appointment comes at a time when India is slated to begin acquiring the S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missiles from Russia from next year onwards.
Her appointment is a result of former Defence Minister Nirmala Sitaraman’s proposal to give military women more global exposure.
(Edited by Rekha Balakrishnan)
