BREAKING: Anurag Srivastava takes over as MEA spokesperson as Raveesh Kumar 'passes baton'

Former MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar announced that he was officially "passing on the baton" to Anurag Srivastava after 33 months serving in the high-profile post. Anurag Srivastava took over the post of the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Monday. In his first tweet after assuming the post, Anurag Srivastava said that he was "looking forward to working closely with everyone around him to fulfill his responsibilities." 

Anurag Srivastava was previously the Indian ambassador to Ethiopia and the African Union. He is from the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) batch of 1999 as has also served at the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations in Geneva

Read: Anurag Srivastava To Succeed Raveesh Kumar As MEA Spokesperson: Sources

Who is the new MEA spokesperson? 

Before taking up his assignment as ambassador to Ethiopia, he headed the Finance Division of MEA which is tasked to administer the ministry’s annual budget of about US $2 billion. Srivastava has also headed the political wing at the Indian High Commission in Colombo. Earlier, Ambassador of India to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, he had been concurrently accredited as the Ambassador of India to the Republic of Djibouti, with residence in Addis Ababa.