Rao is only the second woman to be named for the post of foreign secretary after Chokila Iyer.
Following is the transcript of Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao's media interaction
Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao arrived in Kabul to assess the situation arising out of Thursday''s bomb blast outside the Indian embassy there, which claimed 17 lives and injured over 60.
Pakistan's Foreign Office apparently sent an official known for his ability to read faces to receive Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao on her arrival in Rawalpindi in a bid to find out what was on her mind.
Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao will travel to Islamabad later this month to hold talks with her Pakistani counterpart during which India will raise the issue of nexus between Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence and the perpetrators of 26/11 attacks, as brought out by the trial of Pakistani-Canadian terrorist Tahawwur Rana in the United States.
India's High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Nirupama Rao was on Wednesday named as the next envoy to China.
Nirupama Rao, the former Indian Ambassador to the US, has been named as the 'Meera and Vikram Gandhi Fellow' with the Brown-India initiative at the Watson Institute for International Studies.
Veteran diplomat Ranjan Mathai on Monday assumed charge as new Foreign Secretary succeeding Nirupama Rao and said he would try and work to restore "trust and confidence" in Indo-Pak relations.
There has been overwhelming elation from across United States from Indian American community leaders and activists over the decision by the government of India to appoint Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao as the new Indian Ambassador to the US, to succeed Meera Shankar whose term ends on July 31 after which she is expected to go into retirement from the Indian Foreign Service.
Sujata Singh, currently envoy to Germany, will be India's next foreign secretary following an approval of her appointment by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, sending months of speculation on who will head the foreign services.
On her last day as India's envoy to the United States, Ambassador Nirupama Rao was felicitated by the Barck Obama administration at the State Department on Monday, with US Secretary of State John F Kerry thanking her for her service toward furthering the strategic partnership between the two nations.
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao on Sunday arrived in Colombo on a key visit to boost bilateral ties and discuss the row over the alleged killing of two Indian fishermen in sea waters between the two countries. The foreign secretary was expected to discuss the killings of two Indian fishermen mid-sea earlier in January. The incident had sparked a row between the two neighbours.She is expected to meet President Mahinda Rajapksha on Monday to convey New Delhi's concern.
A report by leading Pakistani daily The News, on the bilateral talks held in New Delhi on Thursday, has claimed that Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao was not invited to Pakistan by her counterpart Salman Bashir.
The United States has assured India of providing 'fair solution' to Indian students affected by the shut down of California-based Tri Valley University, which has been accused of a massive visa fraud.
Underlining the importance of stability in Afghanistan for regional security, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao on Thursday said Washington 'fully recognises' India's role in the war-torn country and reiterated that New Delhi will not be 'scaling down' its operations there following the recent attacks targeting Indians. "The United States fully recognises that India has legitimate interests in Afghanistan. It appreciates the development work we do there," said Rao.
Barely minutes before the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan met for crucial and significant day-long talks at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir said both Balochistan and Kashmir will be on the agenda for Thursday's talks.Bashir made these remarks shortly before leaving his hotel for Hyderabad House. Bashir is leading a four-member delegation in the talks to be held with Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao.
Pakistan was on Thursday dismissive of India's attempts to raise fresh evidence of Inter Service Intelligence's links to the 26/11 attacks at the upcoming foreign secretary-level talks, stating clearly that the agenda would be limited to three issues: Kashmir, peace and security and friendly exchanges.
Pakistan will try to find a 'common denominator' during the upcoming talks with Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, without 'forgetting' outstanding issues like Kashmir, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir has said. "We do not have a prepared agenda. We will see what can be identified as doable and then take it to the foreign ministers' level. In this meeting, we will try and find a common denominator," Bashir said, referring to talks he will hold with Rao in Islamabad.
According to an Indian government source, there is no way any Indian administration will ever de-link talks from terror. In fact, neither can the Pakistani government.
India and Pakistan must focus on a creative and realistic approach as they begin the long haul of normalising relations following a constructive meeting of their Foreign Secretaries, the Pakistani media and analysts said on Friday. News reports of the coordial meeting between Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir dominated the front pages of the dailies.
India has told Pakistan that the proposed talks with it will focus on terrorism and other issues "hurting" bilateral relations and has given no indication about the full-fledged resumption of the stalled composite dialogue process, official sources said on Friday.
"We hope and expect that Pakistan will focus in a meaningful manner on our concerns on terrorism. It is our hope and expectation that Pakistan fulfills all its commitments," Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said.
With the rising death toll in anti-government protests in Libya, the government on Tuesday decided to evacuate nearly 18,000 Indians residing in that country. "Arrangements for air and sea evacuation of our nationals from Libya are being finalised," Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said. Rao, along with other top officials from other concerned ministries, held a meeting to work out the logistics of the evacuation process.
Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, who visited Sri Lanka last week and met President Mahinda Rajapakse and senior Sri Lankan officials, has said that India had been reassured over the Lankan government's efforts to return internally-displaced persons to their homes and also hopeful over a future political process to alleviate the lot of the Tamil-speaking community and other minorities.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, who faced trolling on social media in the wake of India and Pakistan reaching an understanding on May 10 to halt all military actions, has received support from veteran diplomat Nirupama Menon Rao, a body of Indian diplomats and a host of politicians from several parties.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said he would adopt a "positive approach" for his meeting with his Indian counterpart S M Krishna on the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly in New York.
An official of the Indian Embassy in China, on Wednesday, met the 21 Indians detained there for alleged diamond smuggling and legal help is being arranged for them, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said.
Nepal on Monday said it would not allow its territory to be used against the interests of India and not permit "vested interest groups" to create "misunderstandings" between the two neighbouring nations.
India is looking towards "unlocking processes" and exploring "doables" to revive the stalled dialogue with Pakistan, officials said on Friday, as Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao prepares to meet her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir next week in Thimpu.
Answering a question with reference to a bomb attack near the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex in Kamra, which is about 75 km from Islamabad, and reportedly houses some of the country's nuclear assets, Rao said that New Delhi was aware of the attack and hoped authorities in Islamabad would ensure the safeguarding of those assets.
Were External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, right, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, centre, and Hardip Singh Puri, India's Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, left, perturbed by Libyan dictator Muammmar Gadhafi's demand that Kashmir be made an independent country, an observation embedded in his 96-minute diatribe.
Thnew deal will likely usher in a new era of cooperation and broad-basing of economic relationship between the two Asian powers.
The Indian Embassy in Beijing immediately took up the matter with the Chinese government and sought Consular access to them, they said. The Consular access has been granted for Wednesday.
With the situation in Libya remaining volatile, government on Tuesday said it was putting in place plans for possible evacuation of Indians whose number is around 18,000.
So, what is in a menu, you might ask. Oh, a world and more. Especially, if it is to do with a high-profile lunch hosted by the Indian foreign office for a Pakistani delegation.The lunch hosted on Thursday at Hyderabad House in central Delhi by Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao is as elaborate as the menu is carefully chosen. There is Gosht curry (lamb preparation). That itself is significant.
External affairs Minister SM Krishna has taken on Lashkar-e-Tayiba founder and Jama'at-Ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed saying India believes Saeed is the "brain" behind the Mumbai attacks of November 2008, telling Pakistan's government that if it wants to prove its seriousness on tackling terror, it must tackle Saeed.
At the end of discussions at the foreign secretary level between Indian and Pakistan in Islamabad, which were focused on peace and security, India pointed out that terrorism had complicated the Indo-Pak relationship. India has urged Islamabad not to follow a segmented approach.
Addressing New Delhi's concerns about peace talks with Taliban, the United States told India that it will not let the rebels enter a power sharing agreement in Afghanistan, according to leaked US cables by Wikileaks.
Take a look at the pictures of Barack Obama's visit to India. You can see Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, Indian Ambassador to the US Meera Shankar and National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon. Can you spot Foreign Minister S M Krishna anywhere?
India and Pakistan are talking once again today at the official level. The preparation on the Indian side leaves no doubt that the focus will be on terrorism. The foreign ministry is consulting with the home ministry, defence ministry and security agencies. Pakistan will be placed in the dock. We can reasonably expect Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao to press for the complete unravelling of the 26/11 conspiracy.
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