Who Is Ruchira Kamboj, India’s First Woman Permanent Representative At UN

Ruchira Kamboj, India's first woman Permanent Representative to the UN, met Secretary General António Guterres on Wednesday.

New Delhi: Ruchira Kamboj, who took over as India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, on Wednesday met Secretary General António Guterres and presented her credentials. Ruchira, who is the first Indian woman to hold the position, said it was an “honour” to be given the responsibility.

“Today, have presented my credentials to the Secretary General of the United Nations
@antonioguterres as Permanent Representative/Ambassador to the @UN. A privilege to be the first Indian woman to be given the honour to hold this position. To the girls out there,we all can make it!,” Ruchira Kamboj said in a tweet.

Today,have presented my credentials to the Secretary General of the United Nations @antonioguterres as Permanent Representative/Ambassador to the @UN. A privilege to be the first Indian woman to be given the honour to hold this position

To the girls out there,we all can make it! pic.twitter.com/i1D7Qof2tc

— Ruchira Kamboj (@RuchiraKamboj) August 2, 2022

Who is Ruchira Kamboj – Key points

• Coming after 21 Indian representatives at the UN, Ruchira Kamboj is the first woman to be the permanent representative, although Jawaharlal Nehru’s sister Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit had been designated the chief delegate to the General Assembly twice.
• As the Indian envoy, Ruchira Kamboj is tasked to deal with the intense pressure the country is facing from all sides over its independent stand on Ukraine, neither backing Russia nor unequivocally condemning it, and having to frequently reiterate the position in speeches and votes at the UN.
• Ruchira Kamboj has special expertise on Security Council reforms as she served as a member of the team of G4 made up of India, Brazil, Germany and Japan that work together on expanding the Council’s permanent membership.
• Kamboj brings to the UN a wide range of experience with multilateral organisations, including stints as a Counsellor at India’s mission in New York, Permanent Representative to the UNESCO in Paris, and deputy head of the Office of the Commonwealth Secretary-General in London.
• Ruchira Kamboj, an Indian Foreign Service officer of the 1987 batch, served as the Ambassador to Bhutan before assuming her new role.
• Kamboj had been the High Commissioner in South Africa and was also the chief of protocol.