Geetika Srivastava Becomes The First Woman To Lead Indian Mission In Pakistan

Geetika Srivastava, a 2005 batch Indian Foreign Service officer, will be the new Charge d’Affaires (CDA) in Islamabad.

As India and Pakistan have no respective High Commissioners in each other’s capital, the highest ranking diplomat is a CDA who is a Joint Secretary-rank equivalent officer.

Srivastava is currently serving as Joint Secretary at the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) headquarters, where she oversees the Indo-Pacific division.

She worked at the Indian Embassy in China from 2007 to 2009. She has also worked in the Regional Passport Office in Kolkata and as the MEA's Director of the Indian Ocean Region division.

Ajay Bisaria served as India's last High Commissioner to Islamabad, however he was relieved of his duties after Pakistan decided to downgrade the High Commission's status after Article 370 was abrogated in 2019.