High Commissioner of India to Canada
Mr. Vikas Swarup was born in Allahabad and graduated from the University of Allahabad.
He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1986. In his career spanning more than 30 years, he has served in diplomatic assignments in Ankara, Washington DC, Addis Ababa, London, Pretoria and Osaka-Kobe.
At Headquarters, Mr. Swarup has served as the Desk Officer for Southern Africa, US & Canada, Director (Pakistan), Director (Nepal and Bhutan) and Director in charge of the Office of the Minister of External Affairs. After serving as Joint Secretary United Nations (Political), he was appointed the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs in April 2015 in which capacity he was serving till being appointed as the High Commissioner of India to Canada. In helming the External Publicity and Public Diplomacy Division of the Ministry, he significantly upscaled the MEA’s social media outreach.
He is also the author of three novels, Q&A, which was adapted as the multiple Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire, Six Suspects, and The Accidental Apprentice. His books have been translated into more than forty international languages.
He is the recipient of a Degree of Doctorate of Literature and Philosophy (Honoris Causa) by the University of South Africa.
He has participated in literary festivals around the world and has written for several prestigious publications including TIME, Newsweek, The Guardian, The Telegraph (UK), The Financial Times (UK), DNA (India), Outlook (India) and Liberation (France).
Apart from reading, he enjoys listening to music and playing cricket, tennis and table tennis. His wife Aparna is an artist, who has held exhibitions in India and abroad. They have two sons.