- Diplomatic Journey
Diplomatic Career
As a career diplomat, Navdeep was a member of the Indian Foreign Service from 1983 until his superannuation in September 2019. During this period, he held a range of challenging assignments at the Ministry of External Affairs headquarters in New Delhi and in India’s diplomatic missions abroad. He retired as India’s Ambassador to UAE after receiving the Order of Zayed II, the country’s second highest civilian award. He had earlier served as High Commissioner in Australia, Ambassador in Egypt, Consul General in South Africa and Counsellor in London and First Secretary in Washington DC.
Amongst his peer group and with those who have interacted with him professionally, Navdeep is known for his passion and commitment, his out-of-the-box thinking and innovative approach, his embrace of technology-based solutions and his relentless focus on securing the desired outcomes. He brings with him a vast amount of international experience, a rigorous intellect, acknowledged communication skills and a remarkable ability to ‘connect the dots’ to discern the big picture
1983
Diplomatic Career
Navdeep worked for two years in Steel Authority of India Ltd before joining the Indian Foreign Service in 1983. He worked as a junior diplomat at the Indian diplomatic missions in Egypt and Syria, learning Arabic and getting a sound understanding of the Middle East.
1991
Economic Reforms
Upon return to Delhi in 1991, he was deployed in the Ministry’s Economic Division and soon became actively involved in promoting India’s nascent economic reforms program. He collaborated with Arthur Andersen to produce the first set of Doing Business with India publicity material and won particular acclaim for his initiative to put all the new policies on a floppy disk. The floppy disk became a visual symbol of India’s changing mindset and was showcased at a major investment promotion conference in Singapore in October 1991 by then Finance Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and MoS Commerce P. Chidambaram. As a relatively junior officer, Navdeep became a mascot for the economic reform program and was a part of the government’s investment promotion missions to the US, Japan and the Gulf.
1993
Washington DC
He moved to Washington DC in 1993 and spent the next four years on Capitol Hill developing India’s relations with the US Congress. He was the point of contact for India’s lobbying efforts and worked closely with Edelman PR to promote the India story. This was also the time that an India Caucus first emerged in the House of Representatives as a powerful voice for better Indo-US ties. Late Amb. Naresh Chandra often spoke warmly of Navdeep’s contribution to these developments.
2000
London
Following a somewhat uneventful term in Tanzania where he mainly focused on trade promotion efforts, Navdeep was assigned to the High Commission in London as Press Counsellor and Spokesperson in 2000. His stint in London was notable for his wide-ranging contacts in the British media, the launch of an India Digest electronic newsletter and for being India’s face on BBC, Sky News, Channel 4 etc in the wake of the Bhuj earthquake, the Gujarat riots and the attack on the Indian parliament. He also coordinated ties with the Liberal Democrats and provided direction to the PR firm engaged by the mission.
2004-2006
Africa
Navdeep returned to India in 2004 and was asked to head the neglected West Africa division. He traveled extensively in Africa to lay the foundation for the first India-Africa summit, for the Pan-African e-education and e-healthcare network envisioned by President Abdul Kalam and for India’s Lines of Credit with the objective of promoting Indian exports and developing goodwill. He was particularly successful in developing India’s outreach into Francophone countries like Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and DR Congo.
He moved to Johannesburg as Consul General in 2006 and is remembered for his economic diplomacy initiatives to establish the India Business Group and start an annual Doing Business with India conference in collaboration with CII. He also started an annual cultural festival themed ‘Shared Histories: Celebrating India in South Africa’ using an innovative PPP model where private sponsors supplemented the resources provided by the two governments.
2009-2010
Public Diplomacy
Coming back to Delhi in 2009, Navdeep was asked to take charge of the rudderless Public Diplomacy department. He took a particular interest in making use of emerging social media channels as tools of digital diplomacy and participated in workshops at Wilton Park, UK and USC, Los Angeles. Overcoming strong resistance from the bureaucracy, he ensured that in July 2010, the Ministry of External Affairs became the first government entity to establish an active presence on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The effectiveness of these channels as a mode of communication was validated during crises such as the evacuation of Indian nationals from Libya. The pioneering effort resulted in two prestigious awards for Navdeep.
2010-2014
Egypt
In the wake of the Arab Spring, Navdeep was sent as Ambassador to Egypt and played a vital role in establishing ties with the post-Mubarak order. Despite the turmoil in the country, he was able to promote India’s business interests, establish an India Business Group and use India’s soft power to create an annual festival called India by the Nile. This has become Egypt’s largest foreign festival and is continuing into its 8th year. He also expanded the embassy’s social media presence to reach out to diverse groups and in particular to the Egyptian youth.
2014-2015
Australia
After PM Modi’s election in 2014, Australian PM Tony Abbott was one of the first foreign dignitaries to visit India and there was a renewed focus on India-Australia ties. Navdeep was asked to move to Canberra as High Commissioner in April 2015 and to develop a strategic agenda. He worked to enhance defense cooperation and also engaged with Australian super funds and other institutional investors to expand their investments into India. PM’s commitment to organise a major Festival of India was honoured and ‘Confluence’ became the largest cultural projection of its kind, featuring 72 events in 7 cities over a 3-month period.
2015
UAE
Navdeep spent only a year and a half in Australia before being asked to move to Abu Dhabi and build on the momentum generated by PM’s visit in August 2015. In less than three years, he was able to add substance to the Strategic Partnership agreement, develop defense and security cooperation and work closely with sovereign funds like ADIA and Mubadala. This has resulted in multi-billion-dollar investments into India’s financial sector and into areas like real estate, housing, highways, renewable energy and logistics. He has also engaged with ADNOC and helped India get its first onshore and offshore oil concessions in UAE and in commissioning India’s first strategic petroleum reserve in Mangalore. He has developed particularly close ties with the leadership in Abu Dhabi and his efforts have been widely acknowledged, securing the Indian embassy the award of Best Diplomatic Mission in UAE for two consecutive years. In an exceptionally rare gesture, the President of UAE conferred on him their second highest civilian award – the Order of Zayed II – in recognition of his contribution to stronger bilateral ties.
