Nambiar joins advisers' team of UN chief

United Nations, Apr 5 (UNI) Vijay Nambiar, a senior Indian diplomat and formerly an envoy to the UN, has become a member of the top advisers' team of Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

The appointment, which was made effective this week, had been announced earlier this month by the UN chief.

Mr Nambiar, whose appointment is for a period of one year, will advise Mr Annan on a variety of issues such as representing the UN chief at key meetings and liaising with envoys from member nations.

Before assuming the current position, Mr Nambiar was India's Deputy National Security Adviser and head of the National Security Council's Secretariat.

Mr Nambiar, who was involved in several UN and Non-Aligned Movement summits and ministerial conferences at the delegation level since 1979, was Joint Secretary (Director General) handling East Asia in 1988 during the visit of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to China in 1988.

He served as Ambassador to Afghanistan, Malaysia, China and Pakistan. Before that Mr Nambiar had served in various bilateral and multilateral appointments in Beijing, Belgrade and New York in the 1970s and 1980s.

His rank is that of an Under Secretary-General and is the second Indian to hold that rank in the UN system. Shashi Tharoor, the other Indian, currently heads the UN Communication and Public Information Department since 2001.

Mr Nambiar joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1967. Born in Pune in August 1943, he holds a master's degree in political science from Bombay University and was awarded the chancellor's gold medal in 1965.

UNI XC ARB RS1529