Kasaragod-Rooted Nagma Mohamed Mallick Appointed India’s New Ambassador to Japan

Nagma Mohamed Mallick, a 1991-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Japan. Mallick is presently posted as Ambassador to the Republic of Poland.

“She is expected to take up the assignment shortly,” the government said, announcing the new assignment on 16 October.

Mallick joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1991. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature and a Master’s degree in Sociology. She speaks English, French, Hindi, Urdu and Malayalam, according to her profile on official websites.

India's first woman Deputy Chief of Protocol

Mallick began her diplomatic career in Paris, where she served in the Indian Embassy and in the Indian Mission to UNESCO. 

She has also served in New Delhi in various capacities in the Government of India, beginning as Desk Officer in the West Europe Division of the Ministry of External Affairs and then on the personal staff of Prime Minister IK Gujral in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

Mallick has also served as the first woman Deputy Chief of Protocol (Ceremonial) after her tenure at the PMO between 1997 and 1998. She served thereafter in India’s diplomatic Missions in Nepal and Sri Lanka as First Secretary and Counsellor, respectively.

Back in Delhi, she was Deputy Spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs. She was then the Director in the Eurasia Division, where she oversaw India’s bilateral relations with Russia and the CIS countries. From July 2010 to September 2012, she served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy in Thailand.

She was the Ambassador of India to the Republic of Tunisia from October 2012 to November 2015. From December 2015 to December 2018, she was High Commissioner of India to Brunei Darussalam.

Educational Qualification

Mallick was born in New Delhi to Keralite parents from Kasaragod and studied at St Stephen's College and Delhi School of Economics before cracking the civil services.

She is expected to take up the assignment shortly.

She was head of the Policy Planning Division of the Ministry from February 2019 till January 2020 and then Additional Secretary (Africa) till August 2021, as Head of Division for relations with Eastern and Southern African nations, with supervisory duties over ties with all of Africa.

She has been the Ambassador of India to the Republic of Poland since September 2021.