Indian women are achieving new milestones by leaving their mark on society with roles and responsibilities that were often given only to men. Geetika Srivastava has reportedly been appointed the chargé d’affaires in the Indian high commission in Islamabad, the first woman diplomat to hold the position. Srivastava is currently Joint Secretary (Indo-Pacific) in the Ministry of External Affairs.
Srivastava is likely to take up her assignment in Islamabad shortly opposite her Pakistani counterpart Saad Warraich who will be the Islamic country’s new chargé d’affaires in New Delhi. India’s current mission head in Pakistan, Suresh Kumar is expected to return to the capital soon.
Srivastava hails from the 2005 batch of the Indian Foreign Service. She served in the Indian embassy in China during 2007-09. She also worked at the Regional Passport Office in Kolkata and as director of the Indian Ocean Region division in MEA.
Ever since Pakistan decided to downgrade diplomatic relations with India, missions of both countries in New Delhi and Islamabad have not been headed by high commissions since August 2019. Pakistan had recently called back Salman Sharif, the previous Pakistani chargé d’affaires to Islamabad.
Meanwhile, Kaziranga National Park in Assam is set to get its first woman field director starting in September. Dr Sonali Ghosh is currently the chief conservator of forests. The appointment was issued by the Assam government. She will be the first woman field director in the 118-year-old history of the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve.
Ghosh will take charge of the park from field officer Jatindra Sarma who will retire on 31st August. Ghosh is presently working as chief conservator of forests for research education and working plan division at the office of the principal chief conservator of forests and head of the forest force in Guwahati. Ghosh is reportedly a top performer from the 2000-2003 IFS batch.