He wore a blue printed tie and a matching pocket square. He kept the twinkle out of his eyes as he presided over the weekly media briefing of the ministry of external affairs, making it appear like an everyday task. It was only towards the end that Vikas Swarup, spokesperson for the Minsitry of External Affairs, finally announced that this was his last briefing.
Swarup has been appointed High Commissioner of Canada, a posting about which there had been much talk. The confirmation came on Thursday. The post was vacant after the retirement of Vishnu Prakash. Swarup will have to rush if he hopes to be in time to present his credentials in March. The next window will come only four months later.
Swarup, author of Q and A, the novel on which the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire was based, took over as what he calls the “mouthpiece” of the ministry in 2015 from Syed Akbaruddin who became India's permanent representative in the United Nations. Mild-mannered, Swarup has a way with words, both the written and spoken, in Hindi as well as English.
Swarup has also helmed the publicity wing of the ministry at a time when it made its outreach over the social media, an area where external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj herself has made a mark. The ministry launched a Facebook page and connected all its missions over this forum. Twitter has been the medium through which Swaraj has reached out to diaspora in distress, and the MEA was actively involved in this platform too. In August last year, the ministry even launched an app that brought together all social media platforms like Facebook pages, YouTube and Twitter of 170 missions abroad.
With the new Trump government in the US and Candadian prime minister Justin Trudeau projecting himself as the champion of the politically correct world, Swarup's new posting should be an interesting tenure. Who knows, it might even inspire another book. The new High Commissioner shares something with Trudeau — an innate sense of style. Swarup's sartorial statements are restricted by the limitations of the diplomatic attire of suits and ties. But he doesn't miss a chance. Last Basant Panchami, he made a quiet statement by wearing a yellow tie, the colour of the festival.