New Delhi: The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Vikas Swarup, an IFS officer of 1986 batch, as Secretary of Overseas Indian Affairs in the Ministry of External Affairs with effect from August 1. He is currently serving as High Commissioner in Canada and will replace senior diplomat Sanjiv Arora.

Over the course of his diplomatic career he has been posted in several countries, including Turkey, the United States, Ethiopia, the United Kingdom and South Africa. He served as Consul General of India in Osaka-Kobe in Japan from 2009 to 2013. Swarup is the author of award-winning book Q&A, which was adapted into the Oscar-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire. The book bagged the Exclusive Books Boeke Prize 2006 and the Paris Book Fair's Reader's Prize.

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