Ajay Bisaria

His Excellency Ajay Bisaria
High Commissioner of India to Canada
Incumbent
Assumed office 3 March 2020
President	Ramnath Kovind
Preceded by	Vikas Swarup
High Commissioner of India to Pakistan
In office 12 December 2017 – 31 August 2019
President	Ramnath Kovind
Preceded by	Gautam Bambawale
Succeeded by	Vacant
Ambassador of India to Poland
In office 1 January 2015 – 1 November 2017
President	Pranab Mukherjee
Preceded by	Monika Kapil Mohta
Ambassador of India to Lithuania
In office 1 January 2015 – 1 November 2017
President	Pranab Mukherjee
Preceded by	Monika Kapil Mohta
Personal details
Born	Patna, Bihar, India
Nationality	Indian
Spouse(s)	Bharati Bisaria[1]
Alma mater	St. Stephen's College, Delhi (BA) Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (MBA) Princeton University (MPP)
Profession	Diplomat

Ajay Bisaria is an Indian career diplomat in the Indian Foreign Service. Since 2020, he has served as the High Commissioner of India to Canada. Previously, he served as High Commissioner of India to Pakistan from 12 December 2017 – 31 August 2019. Prior to joining the diplomatic service, Bisaria worked briefly with the American Express Bank and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited in Delhi.

Education[]

He received his early education in Mumbai and New Delhi.^[2] He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the  St. Stephens College, Delhi University (1980–83), a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata (1983–85) and a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Princeton University (2008 – 09).

Career[]

After training at the Foreign Service Institute in New Delhi, he chose Russian as his language of specialization and was posted at the Indian Embassy in Moscow (1988 – 1991) where he was attached to the economic and political wings of the Embassy. He worked as a Soviet internal affairs specialist in the months leading up to the dissolution of the USSR.

He served as Under Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs on the East Europe desk (1991 – 92) when India was engaged in building new relationships with the post-Soviet countries.  He then moved to the Ministry of Commerce (1992–95), in the era of economic liberalization. He contributed to a new trade policy paradigm, using his training in economics and finance as part of a team that managed a complex transition of India’s trade arrangements to a hard currency system.

He was posted as First Secretary in the Indian Embassy in Berlin (1995–1999), where oversaw commercial relations at a time of rising economic engagement between Germany and a liberalizing India. He also oversaw the development and construction of the new building of the Embassy of Indian in Berlin in the historic Tiergarten.

In 1999, Bisaria was appointed Private Secretary to the Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and served in the role for the whole of Vajpayee's term, until 2004. In addition to his official duties, he acted as an advisor to Vajpayee on various economic, defence and foreign policy initiatives. He attended more than 50 international summits with the Prime Minister's delegation.

Following his service at the Prime Minister's Office, Bisaria was seconded to the World Bank in Washington D.C. as an Advisor to the Executive Director for South Asia (2004–2008), where he worked on development projects and aid issues, contributing to corporate governance and multilateral economic diplomacy. He was involved in developing a policy approach to enhance India’s rankings in reports on the Ease of Doing Business.

In 2009, Bisaria returned to Delhi to serve as Joint Secretary (Eurasia) in the Ministry of External Affairs (2009–2014). In this role, he coordinated India's foreign policy and bilateral relations with the Eurasia region (including Russia, Ukraine and Central Asia). He was the principal architect behind the United Progressive Alliance government's new policy outlook for India in Central Asia (‘Connect Central Asia’) and coordinated India’s approach to six annual Indo-Russian summits. Additionally, he led the development of the India-Russia ‘special and privileged strategic partnership’. He also worked on India’s relationship with multilateral institutions like the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, including managing India's application to join the group, and led India's participation in the Russia–India–China trilateral dialogue.^[3]

In January of 2015, Bisaria was appointed India’s Ambassador to Poland, based in Warsaw, with concurrent accreditation to Lithuania,^[2] serving until November 2017. During his time in Poland, he focused on forging economic partnerships and deepening India’s cultural footprint in Central and Eastern Europe. He also served as India’s representative in the Warsaw-based Community of Democracies.

As High Commissioner to Pakistan[]

From December 2017 to August 2019, Bisaria served as India's High Commissioner to Pakistan.^[2] During his tenure, Pakistan and India experienced a decline in bilateral relations – arising from increased violence in the contested region of Kashmir – which culminated in the Balakot airstrike, the first instance of aerial combat between Indian and Pakistani air forces since the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. Prior to these events, however, Bisaria helped India establish a relationship with the newly-elected Tehreek-i-Insaf Government of Prime Minister Imran Khan. He also worked on efforts to expand Indian nationals' access to the Kartarpur Corridor. He returned to India when Pakistan downgraded its bilateral relationship with India.

In the Indian Civil Service, he currently holds the personal rank of Secretary to the Government of India. He was part of the team representing India at the United Nations Human Rights Council, Geneva in September 2019,^[4] to promote India’s record on human rights.

As High Commissioner to Canada[]

In March of 2020, Bisaria was appointed High Commissioner to Canada.^[5] He succeeded Vikas Swarup, who was promoted to the newly-created public service post of Secretary for Consular, Passport, Visa and Overseas Indian Affairs. Bisaria's tenure began during the COVID-19 pandemic and has involved facilitating the repatriation of Indian nationals. Additionally, he was responsible for defending India's response to the 2020–2021 Indian farmers' protest after implicit criticism was levelled against the Government of India by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

References[]

External links[]

• Ajay Bisaria on Twitter