D. Bala Venkatesh Varma Age, Family, Biography

Some Lesser Known Facts About D. Bala Venkatesh Varma

• On 16 August 1988, D. Bala Venkatesh Varma joined the Indian Foreign Service.

• From February 1990 to February 1992, he served as the third and second secretary of the Embassy of India in Moscow.

• In February 1992, he was appointed as the second secretary of the Embassy of India in Tashkent. He served in the position till April 1994.

• In April 1994, he began working as the under secretary and deputy secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi, India. He served in the position till May 1997.

• From May 1997 to July 2000, he served as the first secretary (Disarmament) of the Permanent Mission of India to the UN in Geneva.

• In August 2000, he was designated as the first secretary or counsellor at the Embassy of India in Moscow. He served in the position till August 2003.
  

  An old picture of D. Bala Venkatesh Varma

• He started working as the Director (Disarmament and International Security Affairs) in the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi in August 2003. He served in the position till May 2004.

• In May 2004, he started working in the Prime Minister’s Office and served there till August 2007. In this role, he helped India to negotiate the India-US Civil Nuclear Agreement.

• During this period, he participated in all stages of talks for the Civil Nuclear Initiative, which included direct negotiations with the US on the 123 Agreement.

• D. Bala Venkatesh Varma also handled talks with the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

• He then worked on nuclear agreements with other countries and conducted bilateral negotiations. These countries include Russia, the UK, France, China, Pakistan, Australia, Austria, Canada, Switzerland, Brazil, BRICS, and CICA countries.

• After that, he worked on India’s security and defence policies, including nuclear, missile, and space programs.

  

  D. Bala Venkatesh Varma while meeting Russian soldiers

• D. Bala Venkatesh Varma worked for more than 12 years on global efforts to stop the spread of weapons such as nuclear, chemical, biological, and conventional arms.

• In August 2007, he was appointed as the counsellor or minister Permanent Mission of India to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. He served in the position till July 2010.

• During this period, he served three times at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.

• In July 2010, he was designated as the Joint Secretary in charge of Disarmament and International Security in the Ministry of External Affairs. He served in the position till October 2013.

• The Nuclear Security Summits, which were organised between 2010 and 2013, Varma was a key member of the Indian delegation.
  

  D. Bala Venkatesh Varma during his stint as a member of the Indian delegation

• He has served as a member of the UN Group of Government Experts on Missiles and on Disarmament and Nuclear Non-Proliferation Education.

• In 2011, he became the first person in India to receive the S.K. Singh Award for his excellence in the Indian Foreign Service and his contribution to the negotiations during the Civil Nuclear Initiative.

• D. Bala Venkatesh Varma was a member of the Indian delegation at the UN General Assembly in 1998-1999, 2003-2005, and 2008-2016. He has attended 9 meetings of the UN First Committee and 7 meetings of the United Nations Disarmament Commission.

• In 2017, he was appointed the Indian ambassador to Spain.

• In 2019, he was appointed the Indian ambassador to Russia, where he worked to build India’s relations with Russia. He worked on the Act Far East Initiative by the Government of India.

• During this period, he helped in strengthening relations in defence, nuclear, space, energy, trade, science and technology, and culture with Russia.

  

  D. Bala Venkatesh Varma while meeting President Vladimir Putin at the Alexander Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace

• He has delivered speeches at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum and the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.

• During the COVID-19 pandemic, Varma worked with the Indian nationals until his retirement in 2021.

• He has delivered speeches at various intellectual organisations in Geneva, Washington, New York, Monterey, Vienna, Brussels, London, Melbourne, The Hague, Seoul, Madrid, and Moscow.
  

  D. Bala Venkatesh Varma while delivering a speech on ‘Russia and Resource Geopolitics in the Indo-Pacific,’ highlighted Russia’s strategic role in the region

• D. Bala Venkatesh Varma has delivered various lectures at the Russian Diplomatic Academy, the Russian General Staff Academy in Moscow, the National Defence College, Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses and Foreign Service Institute, New Delhi, and the College of Defence Management, Secunderabad.

• He served as Indian Ambassador to the Kingdom of Spain and to the Russian Federation until October 2021.

• D. Bala Venkatesh Varma is fluent in Russian.