United Nations (The Hawk): Ruchira Kamboj will be following in the footsteps of a famous Indian woman, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, who seized control of a significant UN body 69 years ago, when she holds the gavel at the Security Council on Thursday.
Pandit was the first woman to lead the General Assembly in 1953, and Kamboj will now lead the Security Council as the first Indian woman.
When Kamboj became the first Indian woman to serve as India's Permanent Representative to the UN in August, she tweeted, "To the females out there, we all can make it.
Top diplomatic positions have been held by Indian women in the roughly seven decades between Pandit and Kamboj.
The External Affairs portfolio was held by Sushma Swaraj from 2014 to 2019 and by Indira Gandhi from 1967 to 1969 and 1984.
Three female foreign secretary have also served in that capacity: Chokila Iyer, Nirupama Rao, and Sujatha Singh.
Kamboj, who chairs the Security Council's prominent Counter-Terrorism Committee, organised a rare special session outside the headquarters in India to highlight the risks posed by international terrorism.
She held the key role of ambassador to Bhutan before to being assigned to the UN because of that country's unique relationship with India.
Her prominent diplomatic positions include chief of protocol, high commissioner in South Africa, and permanent representative to the Unesco in Paris.
She served as the deputy head of the Office of the Secretary-General at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London for a time prior to joining the External Affairs Ministry.
Kamboj began his career in the Indian Foreign Service in 1987 and served as a Counselor at the UN Mission from 2002 to 2005.
Lana Zaki Nuseibeh of the United Arab Emirates, Linda Thomas-Greenfield of the United States, Barbara Woodward of the United Kingdom, and Mona Juul of Norway are the other four women who now sit with her on the Security Council's 15 members.
(Inputs from Agencies)
