Syed Akbaruddin Wiki, Age, Wife, Family, Biography & More

Syed Akbaruddin is an Indian Foreign Service officer, who has been serving as the permanent representative of India at the United Nations since 2017.

Wiki/Biography

Syed Akbaruddin was born on Wednesday, 27 April 1960 (age 63 years; as of 2023) in Hyderabad. His zodiac sign is Taurus.

He did his schooling from Hyderabad Public School in Begumpet. He graduated from Nizam College in Hyderabad and did his Master’s in Political Science and International Relations from Osmania University, Hyderabad.

Physical Appearance

Height (approx.): 6′

Eye Colour: Black

Hair Colour: Salt & Pepper

Family, Caste & Wife

He belongs to an educated Muslim family. His father, Professor Syed Bashiruddin was an Indian diplomat. His mother, Dr Zeba Bashiruddin was a professor in the English department at Sri Sathya Sai University.

He is married to Padma Akbaruddin and the couple has two sons.

Career

Syed Akbaruddin was inducted into the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) in 1985. Since his induction in the IFS, Syed has held several positions in the Ministry of External Affairs of India. From 1995 to 1998, he served as the First Secretary at the Indian Mission to the United Nations and focused on the UN Security Council Reform and Peace-Keeping. He also served as a member of the Advisory Committee on Administrative & Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) from 1997 to 1998. Being fluent in Arabic, he has served as a counsellor at the Indian High Commission, Islamabad. Syed has also served as India’s Consul General at Jeddah in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from 2000 to 2004. Prior to that, he was First Secretary in Riyadh and Second and Third Secretary in Cairo, Egypt. From 2006 to 2011, he was on deputation at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna. During this period, he also served as the Head of the External Relations and Policy Coordination Unit and as a Special Assistant to the Director-General of the IAEA. Syed served as the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs of India from 2012 to 2015. He was also a member of the Indian delegations to the UNGA and different multilateral and bilateral meetings at the summit and ministerial level. He used the social media tool effectively in order to expand public diplomacy outreach.

In 2015, he was appointed as the Additional Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs of India. Syed was appointed as the permanent representative of India to the United Nations in 2017.

Favourite Things

• Leader: Mahatma Gandhi

• Poet: Rabindranath Tagore

Salary

His salary as the Indian ambassador to the United Nations is Rs. 2.40 Lakhs with other allowances.

Facts

• Syed likes playing outdoor games and listening to music.

• Reportedly, Syed was very popular during his college days and was active in student politics.

• Syed’s father was the head of the Department of Journalism and Communication at Osmania University. His father served as an ambassador to Qatar. Apart from that, his father also served as the Vice-Chancellor of Dr B. R. Ambedkar Open University and was the director of the research wing of the Film and Television Institute of Pune.

• Syed’s father was a diplomat, which naturally influenced Syed to become a diplomat.

• In 2015, Syed was succeeded by Vikas Swaroop as the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs of India.
  

  Syed Akbaruddin with Vikas Swaroop

• During the term of Sushma Swaraj as the External Affairs Minister of India, Syed and Sushma played a crucial role in executing several policies, which benefitted India on many international platforms.
  

  Syed Akbaruddin with Sushma Swaraj

• Syed played a decisive part in the UN declaring Jaish-e-Mohammad Chief Masood Azhar as an International Terrorist in May 2019. Talking about the achievement, Syed said-
  

  This is a significant outcome, we have been at it for several years, today the goal stands achieved’. Grateful to many countries who supported us i.e. the USA, UK and France and also several others in the council & outside the council; Would like to thank the permanent representative of Indonesia.”

• On 16 August 2019, he was highly appreciated on Twitter when he extended his ‘hand of friendship’ to the Pakistani journalist and reportedly asserted at the U.N. Security Council closed consultation on Kashmir that Article 370 was an internal matter of the country.

#WATCH: Syed Akbaruddin, India’s Ambassador to UN says,"so, let me start by coming across to you and shaking hands. All three of you," to a Pakistani journalist when asked,"when will you begin a dialogue with Pakistan?" pic.twitter.com/0s06XAaasl

— ANI (@ANI) August 16, 2019

• He is a sports fanatic and loves outdoor games. He actively campaigned for the promotion of cycling on the World Cycling Day in 2019.
  

  Syed Akbaruddin cycling on World Cycling Day

• Syed is said to have popularized ‘Yoga;’ making it an international event; after the UN declared 2 June as the ‘International Yoga Day’ in 2015. Since then, the event has been celebrated every year.

• Those who are familiar with Syed, describe him as ‘focused,’ ‘articulate,’ ‘soft-spoken,’ and with ‘no enemies.’