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Indian Diplomat to Succeed Gambari
Friday, December 18, 2009

The United Nations will appoint a veteran Indian diplomat, Vijay Nambiar, as its new special envoy to Burma, replacing Ibrahim Gambari, according to a report on Dec. 14 by New York-based Inner City Press.

The UN has not made any official statement regarding the appointment. In early December, Ban announced that Gambari will be reassigned as joint special representative of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur in January. Gambari was repeatedly criticized by Burma experts and the Burmese opposition during his mission to Burma.


Vijay Nambiar
(Photo: Reuters)

Nambiar, 66, has been the chief of staff under UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon since January 1, 2007, and was previously under-secretary-general and special adviser to former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Prior to joining the UN, Nambiar served the Indian government as head of the National Security Council Secretariat, and in 2002-04 was India's permanent representative to the UN in New York. Nambiar also served as Indian ambassador in Pakistan, China, Malaysia, Afghanistan and Algeria. He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1976.

Two days after Cyclone Nargis slammed southwestern Burma on May 2-3, 2008, Nambiar met with Burma's UN ambassador, Kyaw Tint Swe, and discussed grant allocations from the UN's US $500-million Central Emergency Response Fund.

After the meeting, the military junta agreed to begin airlifting relief material and life-saving drugs to the cyclone-ravaged Irrawaddy delta.

irrawaddy.org

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