Senior diplomat Rudrendra Tandon appointed Secretary (East) in MEA

Senior diplomat Rudrendra Tandon (IFS:1994) has been appointed Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

According to an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training on Wednesday (March 25, 2026), the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved his appointment. He will replace Periasamy Kumaran (IFS:1992), who has been in the post since April 1, 2025.

Tandon is currently serving as Ambassador of India to Greece. He has been in this role since June 27, 2023.

The Secretary (East) handles India’s relations with countries in East and Southeast Asia. The division also looks after ties with parts of the Indo-Pacific, Oceania and some regions of the Americas.

Earlier, Tandon served as Additional Secretary handling BIMSTEC and SAARC in the Ministry of External Affairs.

He has worked in several Indian missions abroad. These include postings in Paris, Algiers, Kabul and Moscow. He has also served as Consul General in Jalalabad.

He was Ambassador to the ASEAN Secretariat from July 2018 to August 2020. He later served as Ambassador to Afghanistan from September 2020 to August 2021.

In India, he has held roles such as Under Secretary (Pakistan), Director in the Prime Minister’s Office, Director (Pakistan), Joint Secretary (PAI) and Joint Secretary (UNP).