NEW YORK CITY (TIP): Ambassador  Binaya Srikanta Pradhan,  a career diplomat of the 2002 batch of the Indian Foreign Service, took over as Consul General of India at New York on January 15. He has succeeded Ambassador Randhir Kumar Jaiswal who has since taken over as Spokesperson at the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA ) in New Delhi.

Ambassador Pradhan’s  diplomatic career includes senior roles in Indian Embassies in Moscow, Turkmenistan, and Pakistan from 2004 to 2012. During 2012-14, he managed India’s relations with Afghanistan and Iran at the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi.

Prior to the present assignment, Ambassador Pradhan was High Commissioner of India to Tanzania and Permanent Representative to the East African Community (EAC) from August 2021 to January 2024. During this period India- Tanzania relationship was elevated to ‘Strategic Partnership’ and the first  overseas campus of the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras in Zanzibar, Tanzania was set up. From 2014 to 2019, Mr. Pradhan served as the Chief of Staff to the Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Government of India. His international engagements extended to being the Deputy Chief of Mission in the Embassy of India, Moscow, from June 2019 to July 2021. Ambassador Pradhan demonstrates a keen interest in economic and energy diplomacy. He  is proficient in English, Hindi, Russian and Odiya languages.

Beyond his diplomatic pursuits, he finds enjoyment in playing golf.  He is married to Ms. Monalisa and they are proud parents of two daughters, Dibyanshi and Diya.