About Us
Muktesh K. Pardeshi
Muktesh K. Pardeshi
Secretary (CPV & OIA)

Muktesh K. Pardeshi is Secretary (Consular, Passport, Visa and Overseas Indian Affairs) in the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi since 1 October 2023. In his current role, he also oversees India’s relations with the Gulf and West Asia & North Africa (WANA) regions.

He has successfully led the operations and organization of India’s G20 Presidency Secretariat as Special Secretary since July 2022.

Earlier, between July 2019 and July 2022, he served as the High Commissioner of India to New Zealand. He was also concurrently accredited as the High Commissioner of India to Samoa, Niue, Vanuatu, and the Cook Islands.

He was the Ambassador of India to Mexico from April 2016 to June 2019 and also concurrently served as the High Commissioner to Belize. During his tenure, the India-Mexico ´Privileged Partnership’ saw a huge advancement for which he was named Ambassador of the Year 2018 by the diplomatic journal El Mundo Internacional.

At Headquarters, Ambassador Pardeshi was Joint Secretary and Chief Passport Officer of India from 2010-16. His leadership role in the transformation of passport services in India has been widely acclaimed. As the Mission Leader of the ‘Passport Seva Project’, he received numerous awards, including the prestigious National Award on e-Governance (Gold) 2014-15 and Web Ratna (Platinum) Award 2014. During the period 2010-16, he also served on the Board of Directors of the Security Printing and Minting Cooperation of India Limited (SPMCIL).

He is a career diplomat who joined Indian Foreign Service in 1991. In a diplomatic career spanning over three decades, Ambassador Pardeshi has earlier served as Minister/Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of India in Jakarta (2007-10) and Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of India to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva (2004-07). In 2001-04, he was Deputy Secretary (South East Asia & Pacific) in the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi. From 1993 to 2001, he worked at the Indian Missions in Mexico City, Bogota and Kathmandu (where he also held the position of the Secretary of B. P. Koirala India-Nepal Foundation).

He was educated at the University of Delhi, where he obtained his Bachelor and Master of Arts from Hindu College and Delhi School of Economics respectively. He also holds a Diploma in Spanish from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. He is married to Mrs. Rakhi Pardeshi and they have two daughters.