NEW DELHI / NEWYORK (TIP): Asoke KumarMukerji has been appointedas the next PermanentRepresentative of India tothe United Nations at NewYork. The announcementwas made in New DelhiFebruary 13.

Mukerji replacesHardeep Singh Puri, whoretires this month after atwo-year stint during whichIndia also held a nonpermanentseat at theSecurity Council. Puri’stenure has probably beenthe most action packed andhistoric for any PR inrecent years. After theIndia-US Civil Nuclear deal,the most important issuehas been India’s push for a permanent seat on the SecurityCouncil It was during Puri’s tenurethat the issue got the maximumattention and support and, again, it wasduring Puri’s tenure that India waselected as a non permanent member ofthe Security Council at which Indiaalso presided.

Handpicked by External AffairsMinister Salman Khurshid for one ofthe most important diplomaticassignments, Mukerji is presently aSpecial Secretary in the ExternalAffairs Ministry. He has served asConsul General in Dubai and as DeputyHigh Commissioner in London. He wasalso private secretary to ExternalAffairs Minister Salman Khurshidduring his previous stint as a Ministerof State.