Ruchira Kamboj, India's first woman UN envoy, takes charge
As India currently serves a two-year term as a non-permanent member of the 15-nation UN Security Council, Ruchira Kamboj became the country's first woman envoy at the world body's headquarters in New York.
As Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj took charge as India's first woman Permanent Representative to United Nations (UN) today, she tweeted a powerful message—"To the girls out there, we all can make it."
On Tuesday, August 2, Ruchira presented her credentials to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. In the same tweet, Ruchira said, "A privilege to be the first Indian woman to be given the honour to hold this position."
Ruchira, 58, a 1987 batch Indian Foreign Service officer, was previously Ambassador of India to Bhutan and was in June appointed India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, succeeding Ambassador T S Tirumurti.
A day before she presented her credentials to the UN chief, Ruchira tweeted, "It is my deepest honour to serve my country in this new position."
Former UN Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director at UN Women, Lakshmi Puri, among the highest ranking Indian diplomats in the UN system, described Kamboj’s appointment as “landmark”, and a “new milestone” for women’s leadership at the UN.
While Ruchira is the first Indian woman to be the permanent representative, Jawaharlal Nehru’s sister Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit had been designated the chief delegate to the General Assembly twice.
(With inputs from PTI News)
Edited by Affirunisa Kankudti