Hardeep Puri has only now been named India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UNPR). There is no mystery behind this. He was offered the job several months ago as his predecessor, Nirupam Sen, retired at the end of March. The mystery is, who forced his hand and made him go so precipitately? If the government at the Centre had changed, it was almost certain that Puri would have become foreign secretary. It would have suited him to decide on taking up his assignment in New York in June rather than April as who knows what the new government might have decided. But someone said he needed to leave right away. Who was this?
Ronen Sen is back
Few know that India’s former ambassador to the United States, Ronen Sen, is back in New Delhi and is ensconced in his small East Delhi apartment keeping a close eye on the progress of the elections quietly. If the elections throw up a Congress-led government again, there is hardly any doubt that he will be the first one to be considered for the National Security Advisor’s job. If that happens, what will current Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon do after he retires?