Senior diplomat Anurag Srivastava on Monday took charge as the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, succeeding Raveesh Kumar. Mr Srivastava, a 1999-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, was serving as India's Ambassador to Ethiopia. Mr, Srivastava served at the India's Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva where he dealt with work related to human rights, refugee issues and trade policy.
He also served in the Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran division of the ministry at its headquarters. Mr. Srivastava has degrees in engineering and business management and had a brief stint in the corporate sector before joining the Indian Foreign Service. He also has a postgraduate diploma in Diplomatic Studies from the Oxford University. Former MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar announced that he was officially "passing on the baton" to Anurag Srivastava after 33 months serving in the high-profile post.