Fifty eight-year-old Nirupama Rao, a 1973-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, who has served in a number of key positions, the seond woman Foreign Secretary of India after Chokila Iyer. Prior to her posting in Beijing as Ambassador in October 2006, Rao served as Indian envoy to Sri Lanka and been country's first woman spokesperson. Previously, Rao had served in the Indian Missions in Washington and Moscow besides having a stint in the Ministry of External Affairs as Joint Secretary (East Asia).
Born in Kerala in 1950, Nirupama Rao did her schooling from various cities in India, including, Bangalore, Pune, Lucknow, Coonoor (Tamilnadu). Later she obtained her Masters in English Literature from Marathwada University in Maharashtra. She topped the 1973 batch of Indian Foreign Service.
In 2000, she was assigned as head of division in the External Affairs Ministry in charge of multilateral economic relations. In 2001-2002, she was selected as Joint Secretary and official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs. Thus she became the first woman spokesperson of the External Affairs Ministry. After that she as the High Commissioner to Sri Lanka (2004-2006), followed by a posting as Indian Ambassador in China in November 2006, where she worked until her posting as Indian Foreign Secretary in 2009.
