PRABHAT KUMAR
Shri Prabhat Kumar assumed charge as High Commissioner of India to the Republic of South Africa on 2nd August 2023
He joined the Indian Foreign Service in September 1991.
In his first posting abroad in Madrid in 1993, he underwent compulsory language training in Spanish in the first year and was absorbed in the mission as the Head of Chancery and in charge of political and commercial work.
From 1996-99, he served as First Secretary/Charge d' Affaires in the Embassy of India in Zagreb, Croatia.
He was Counsellor/First Secretary in charge of the Political Wing in Embassy of India, Kathmandu from July 2003 to February 2007.
From 2007 to 2010, he was posted in the Permanent Mission of India to the Conference of Disarmament in Geneva as Counsellor/Minister. The Conference on Disarmament is an Intergovernmental organization functioning under the auspices of the UN, that negotiates international disarmament and arms control treaties.
He served as India’s Ambassador to Colombia and Ecuador from May 2014 to October 2017 and India’s Ambassador to Kazakhstan from November 2017 to March 2021.
At the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi from September 1999 to June 2003, he worked in the Finance and Protocol Divisions. He was Joint Secretary in charge of Energy Security Division of Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) from October 2010 to April 2014. This Division served as the nodal point in the MEA for energy security related matters. In May 2012, he also given the additional charge of heading the Investment & Technology Promotion (ITP) He was Additional Secretary [Passport Seva Project and Chief Passport Officer] from April 2021 - November 2021.
Prior to the assumption of the present charge he was Special Secretary, Economic Relations and Development Partnership Administration in the Ministry of External Affairs.
He is a postgraduate in History from Delhi University. He hails from Patna, Bihar and is fluent in Spanish apart from Bhojpuri, Hindi and English. His wife Tilottama Kumar, is a former Government of India officer and currently pursues painting on porcelain.
