Mr. Ashok Kumar
Ambassador
Embassy of India, Minsk.

Ashok Kumar was born on 10 May 1967 in Delhi. He is an alumnus of University of Delhi where he studied B.Sc. (Hons) Geology, M.Sc. (Applied Geology) and earned an M. Phil. in Engineering Geology. 

He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1998. He began the course of his diplomatic career in the Embassy of India, Syria during 2000-2003, where he learnt his compulsory foreign language Arabic and worked as Second Secretary. Later, he was posted to the Consulate General of India, Jeddah in 2004, where he handled Commercial and Community Welfare. 

He returned to Headquarters, New Delhi in 2006 and was deployed as Deputy Secretary in the East & Southern Africa Division where he was given responsibility to handle EAC, COMESA and SADC and development cooperation projects. Later, he moved to the Integrated Finance Division of the Ministry of External Affairs.  

His next overseas assignment was in the Embassy of India, Berlin where he served as First Secretary and Counsellor (Economic and Commerce) from 2009 to 2013. He was appointed as Deputy High Commissioner to the High Commission of India, Mauritius in 2013 and he served till 2017.  

After his diplomatic stint in Mauritius, he rejoined the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi and served as Joint Secretary (Hindi & Sanskrit) during 2018-2019. During his assignment in New Delhi, he was appointed as the

first resident Ambassador of India to Djibouti, where he was entrusted with the responsibility to establish the diplomatic mission. He was also given additional responsibility to supervise the Embassy of India in Sana’a and its Camp office in Djibouti.  

After completing his Mission in Djibouti, Mr. Kumar was appointed as High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Zambia. He served in Zambia for over three years and 4 months. He was also India’s Special Representative to COMESA. Among notable achievements were holding of the 6th Session of India- Zambia Joint Permanent Commission after a long interval of 19 years. Mr. Kumar was also instrumental in holding of 2nd meeting of Joint Working Group on Cooperation in the Field of Geology and Mineral Resources held in Zambia in June 2024. Apart from these, he was also part of Foreign Office Consultation delegation led by Shri. Puneet R. Kundal, Addl. Secretary (E&SA), Ministry of External Affairs. 

During his over 26 years service in Indian Foreign Service, he has handled many important assignments and responsibilities, noticeable was his association with Ist and IInd India-Africa Forum Summits held in New Delhi
( 2008) and in Addis Ababa (2011) and also in organization of the 10th and 11th World Hindi Conferences held in Bhopal (2015) and Mauritius (2018). 

He speaks Hindi, English, and has a working proficiency in Arabic. He is a nature lover and likes gardening. He is also interested in geological expeditions and fossil collections. He is married to Dr. Raji K.P. and is blessed with two daughters.  

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