India's first woman UN envoy takes charge, tweets, "to the girls out there, we all can make it!"

Antonio Guterres received the credentials from senior diplomat Ruchira Kamboj, who on Tuesday assumed responsibility as India's new permanent representative to the UN. She described it as a privilege to be the first Indian woman to hold this post in a tweet. For the girls out there, she tweeted, "To the girls out there, we all can make it!"

Kamboj, an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer from the 1987 batch, had been representing India in Bhutan. She takes up T S Tirumurti's position as India's UN ambassador. She is also the nation's first female envoy working at the global organization's New York headquarters.

Congratulation messages flowed in as she assumed responsibility as India's UN representative. The late Ambassador T. S. Tirumurti congratulated Ruchira Kamboj and said, "@IndiaUNNewYork, best wishes for your success." Kamboj was both the top female candidate in all of India for the 1987 Civil Services batch and the top candidate for the foreign service batch.

She started her career in diplomacy in Paris, where she served as the Indian Embassy's representative to France from 1989 until 1991. But Kamboj eventually went back to Delhi, where she worked from 1991 to 1996 as an undersecretary in the ministry of external affairs' Europe West Division. She worked for the Indian High Commission in Port Louis, Mauritius, from 1996 to 1999 as First Secretary (Economic and Commercial) and Head of Chancery.

From July 2017 until March 2019, Kamboj served as the high commissioner of India to South Africa while also holding dual accreditation with the Kingdom of Lesotho. On May 17, 2019, she took over as the Indian envoy to Bhutan.

Other female ambassadors to the Council include Linda Thomas-Greenfield of the United States, Barbara Woodward of the United Kingdom, and Mona Juul of Norway, who serves as the country's permanent representative to the UN in New York.

(with inputs from agencies)