Vijay Keshav Gokhale


Vijay Keshav Gokhale, born 24 January 1959, is a retired Indian diplomat and the 32nd Foreign Secretary of India. Gokhale was previously the Indian ambassador to China.

Personal life

Gokhale hails from Pune. He is fluent in Marathi, Hindi, English, Sanskrit and Mandarin Chinese. He is married to Vandana Gokhale and they have a son, Jayant Gokhale. Vijay Gokhale holds a Master of Arts degree in history from the University of Delhi.

Career

Gokhale is an Indian Foreign Service officer of the 1981 batch. He served in Indian diplomatic missions in Hong Kong, Hanoi, Beijing and New York. He served as the Deputy Secretary, Director and Joint Secretary at the Ministry of External Affairs, India.
Gokhale was the High Commissioner of India to Malaysia from January 2010 to October 2013 and the Indian Ambassador to Germany from October 2013 to January 2016. He was the Indian Ambassador to China from 20 January 2016 to 21 October 2017.

Expertise

Vijay Gokhale is considered as an expert in Chinese. He has the rare distinction of being the only Indian Foreign Service officer to have served in both mainland China and Taiwan. He was the Director General of the India-Taipei Association, Taiwan. Gokhale during his tenure as the Ambassador of India to China, played a key role in resolving the 2017 Doklam crisis between both the nations. Statements and actions since the beginning of his tenure indicate that he will push a moderate or dovish position on relations with China. In June 2020 Gokhale stated that China is not seeking a New World Order.