From the frolic of the streets of Banaras to the exuberance of diplomatic discussions, this is the story of Sh. Akhilesh Mishra.
While Banaras’ carnival of life has pulled people for centuries, few get to be born in the laps of its immense stretches. Sh. Akhilesh Mishra was blessed enough to have taken his first steps in a city that's older than tradition itself. As the years went by, he started developing a keen interest in science and soon joined IIT (BHU), Varanasi, to pursue a B.Tech. in Mechanical Engineering. Having graduated in 1986, he went for a Master's in Mechanical in 1987. His remarkable 6 years ended in 1989 with him becoming a gold medallist in both of his degrees.
During the wholesome decades he spent in Banaras, he fell in love with Indian culture, philosophy, and poetry. These years had taught him to appreciate the underlying human will for embracing the contrast amongst any community. Along with all of this appreciation also came an urgent desire to nurture these treasures. Consequently, he sat for the Civil Services Exam. Sailing through with flying colors, he joined the Indian Foreign Services in 1989.
In 1991, he was dispatched for his first national duty as the Second Secretary in the Embassy of India in Lima, Peru. This marked the starting of a flourishing career lined with acts of incredible brilliance. He has been part of several diplomatic exchanges which have had their ripples still strike Indian shores. He served as the First Secretary in the Embassy of India in Kathmandu, Nepal when we marked our 50th Independence anniversary. This tenure marked a period of great India-Nepal collaboration. The synergy of cosmopolitanism in Banaras had taught him to embrace differences and to, in turn, thrive in their jolliness. Consequently, he is always amused by the culture and traditions of the country he is serving in. Hence, along with becoming very linguistically outstanding with knowledge of Nepalese, Spanish and Italian, it has made building long-lasting relationships and impressions very tranquil.
As the Deputy Consul General in San Francisco, USA, he looked into the vibrant and growing trade, economic and educational ties between India and the US between 2001 and 2005. During his service as the Deputy Chief of Mission in Kabul, Afghanistan, he became instrumental in re-nurturing Indian ties with the Afghans post the horrendous Taliban rule. But this wasn't to be the end of the honors his destiny would bestow upon him as he was the High Commissioner of India in Male, Maldives when the Maldivian Political Crisis hit in 2018. Despite the difficulties, he was able to secure India's diplomatic relations with the Maldives, which was evident when he welcomed our Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to attend the swearing-in of the new President of Maldives in November 2018.
On his return from the High Commission of India, Male, Maldives, he served as the Director-General, Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) till 2020. After this, he took over as the Additional Secretary, Development Partnership Administration (DPA) in the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi. The DPA handles India’s development cooperation programs for other countries.
Given his immense service to the nation, he was honored with a promotion to the highest level Grade-1 (Secretary) in the Indian Foreign Service in March 2021. Furthermore, he has now been appointed by the Indian government as the next Ambassador of India to Ireland in August 2021.
Sh. Akhilesh Mishra’s life has been a gleaming testament to the saying, “Excellence is a habit.” He has attained heights only imagined of by few through his resolve and has inspired generations throughout the country.
This article has been written by Paras Bajpai (MnC ‘25), Content Team, SAIC, IIT (BHU), Varanasi.