India’s new Consul General in Chicago takes over amid Coronavirus pandemic

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India’s new Consul General in Chicago, Amit Kumar, recently took office in the Windy City, in the midst of the raging coronavirus pandemic, one which has hit Illinois in no small measure.

His first tweet related to  the virus — “Useful discussions on advancing #India-#Indiana engagement, COVID 19 response, steps taken by the Consulate and contribution of the Indian American community.”

He thanked several Indian Americans from the Indiana India Business Council, as well as elected officials of Indiana, for making the Zoom meeting a reality through a “#VirtualReception” which doubled as a welcome for the incoming CG.

Consul General Kumar is a career diplomat and joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1995. He has wide ranging experience having served in Headquarters in New Delhi, and in several Indian missions abroad, according to his profile posted on the Chicago Consulate of India website.

Kumar has engaged in both bilateral and multilateral work in diverse spheres, be it political, strategic and economic.

Prior to taking up his current assignment as the Consul General of India in Chicago, he was the Deputy Chief of Mission in the Embassy of India, Washington DC with Ambassador-rank.

Prior to his Washington, D.C. assignment, he did stints as Joint Secretary for Development Partnership Administration and as Joint Secretary for Human Resources Management in the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi.

He was also Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of India in Tokyo. Other posts he has held include Under Secretary (China) and Director in the Foreign Secretary’s Office in New Delhi.

His overseas assignments include serving in a number of key capitals as Third Secretary in the Embassy of India, Beijing; First Secretary dealing with political work in the Embassy of India, Berlin; First Secretary / Counselor dealing with political, information, cultural and education work at the Embassy of India, Ankara; Counsellor and Head of the Economic & Commercial Wing in the Embassy of India, Beijing; and Counsellor / Minister dealing with Third Committee and UNSC matters in the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations, New York, the profile says. He replaces former Consul General Sudhakar Dalela.

Ambassador Kumar has a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. He is married to Surabhi Kumar and the couple has two children.