H.E. Ms. Bhaswati Mukherjee, presented her credentials as the Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands on the 1stSeptember, 2010. She is also concurrently accredited as the Permanent Representative of the Republic of India to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and is the Chairperson of the Executive Council of OPCW.
A very senior career diplomat from the 1976 batch of the Indian Foreign Service, Ambassador Mukherjee has served in various Indian Missions abroad including Paris, Cairo, New York and Geneva. She has worked for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. She is fluent in French. She has also held different senior positions at the Ministry of External Affairs in India including Joint Secretary in the Europe West Division and Head of Administration/Personnel. Prior to her present appointment as Ambassador of India to the Netherlands she was the Ambassador/Permanent Representative of India to UNESCO (2004-2010).
During her tenure here in the Netherlands, she has worked to strengthen the bilateral relationship in all spheres including political and economic. It is a matter of particular satisfaction that during her tenure the first ever Indian Cultural Centre, the Gandhi Centre, was inaugurated, fulfilling the 40 year aspiration of the Indian Embassy, as well as of the Indian and Surinami Hindustani Diaspora.
During her diplomatic career of over 35 years, she has handled a wide range of bilateral and multilateral assignments covering political, economic and cultural fields. She has several publications to her name and has participated in briefings, seminars and Round Tables on questions relating to the United Nations Human Rights Programme, the World Conference on Human Rights, and the human rights of women and the girl child, notably in Asia as well as issues relating to UNESCO’s areas of competence, particularly in Education and Culture. She has also extensively participated in briefings and seminars relating to the EU, its enlargement and the implications of this enlargement for India as well as on seminars and talks on cultural diversity, intangible cultural heritage and Education for All. She was Secretary of the Indo/French Forum, Co-chaired on the French side by Mr. Jean Francois Poncet, former Foreign Minister of France (1999 - 2004) as well as Secretary of the India/EU Round Table & Chairman of the India EU Joint Working Groups on Terrorism & Consular Issues respectively. At present she is leading the Executive Council of OPCW at an important period of transition.
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