Navdeep Singh Suri (born 1959) is an Indian former diplomat, author and literary translator. A member of the Indian Foreign Service from 1983 to 2019, he served as India's Ambassador to Egypt and the United Arab Emirates and as High Commissioner of India to Australia. He also served as India's Consul General in Johannesburg and held diplomatic assignments in Cairo, Damascus, Washington, D.C., Dar es Salaam and London. At the Ministry of External Affairs, he headed the West Africa and Public Diplomacy divisions.
During his tenure as Joint Secretary and head of the Ministry of External Affairs' Public Diplomacy Division, Suri was associated with the ministry's early adoption of social media and digital platforms for public diplomacy. In 2010, the division launched its presence on all social platforms, with Suri describing the initiative as part of an effort to use social media tools for public diplomacy. The division subsequently received the e-Gov 2.0 Award for innovative use of social media and Web 2.0 tools.
Suri later served as India's Ambassador to Egypt, High Commissioner to Australia and Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates. At the conclusion of his tenure in the UAE, President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan awarded him the First Class Order of Zayed II in recognition of his contribution to the development and strengthening of relations and cooperation between India and the United Arab Emirates.
Suri comes from a family associated with Punjabi literature. His grandfather, Nanak Singh, was a prominent Punjabi novelist and writer whose work has been described as influential. Suri has translated several of Nanak Singh's works from Punjabi into English, including The Watchmaker, A Life Incomplete, Hymns in Blood and A Game of Fire. He has also translated Khooni Vaisakhi, a work written by Nanak Singh following his experience of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
Early life and background
Navdeep Singh Suri was born in 1959 in Amritsar, Punjab, India. He is the grandson of Nanak Singh, a Punjabi novelist and poet. His father, Kulwant Singh, was associated with the publishing industry in Amritsar, while his mother, Attarjit Kaur, taught Punjabi at the college level.
Suri attended St. Francis School, Amritsar and later studied at Guru Nanak Dev University, where he completed a master's degree in economics. His early exposure to Punjabi literature and publishing would later be reflected in his work as a translator of several works by his grandfather, Nanak Singh, from Punjabi into English.
Suri joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1983 and began his first diplomatic assignment in Cairo in 1984. During his posting, he studied Arabic at the American University in Cairo while receiving on-the-job diplomatic training and later worked in the embassy's press and cultural office.
Diplomatic career
Early career
Before joining the Indian Foreign Service, Suri worked for two years with the Steel Authority of India Limited. He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1983 and began his diplomatic career with assignments at Indian diplomatic missions in Egypt and Syria. During these postings, he learned Arabic and developed an understanding of the Middle East.
Economic reforms
After returning to New Delhi in 1991, Suri was assigned to the Economic Division of the Ministry of External Affairs during the early period of India's economic reforms. He was involved in promoting India as an investment destination and worked with Arthur Andersen on publicity material relating to investment opportunities in India. He also participated in investment-promotion missions to the United States, Japan and the Gulf.
An initiative associated with Suri's work was the preparation of information on India's new economic policies in digital form. The material was presented at an investment-promotion conference in Singapore in October 1991 by then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh and Minister of State for Commerce P. Chidambaram.
Washington, D.C.
In 1993, Suri was posted to the Indian Embassy in Washington, D.C., where he spent four years working on India's relations with the United States Congress. His responsibilities included congressional outreach and engagement with members of the US Congress. His posting coincided with efforts to strengthen political relations between India and the United States and with the emergence of the Congressional India Caucus as an advocate of closer India–United States relations.
London
In 2000, Suri was posted to the High Commission of India in London as Press Counsellor and spokesperson. He was responsible for engagement with the British media and communication of the Indian government's position on issues concerning India. During his tenure, he launched India Digest, an electronic newsletter, and appeared as an Indian government spokesperson on British television and news networks.
His posting coincided with media coverage of several major events involving India, including the 2001 Gujarat earthquake, and the 2001 Indian Parliament attack. He also worked on political outreach in the United Kingdom, including engagement with the Liberal Democrats.
Africa
Suri returned to New Delhi in 2004 and was appointed to head the West Africa Division of the Ministry of External Affairs. He travelled extensively across Africa and was involved in India's preparations for the first India–Africa Forum Summit, as well as initiatives involving the Pan-African e-Network and India's Lines of Credit to African countries. His responsibilities included India's engagement with Francophone African countries, including Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In 2006, Suri was appointed India's Consul General in Johannesburg, South Africa. During his tenure, he worked to promote economic and commercial relations between India and South Africa. His initiatives included the establishment of the India Business Group and an annual Doing Business with India conference in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry. He also initiated the annual Shared Histories: Celebrating India in South Africa cultural festival, which brought together public and private partners.
Public diplomacy
Suri returned to New Delhi in 2009 and was appointed Joint Secretary and head of the Ministry of External Affairs' Public Diplomacy Division. He focused on the use of emerging social media platforms as instruments of public diplomacy and participated in international programmes and workshops on the subject, including those organised by Wilton Park in the United Kingdom and the University of Southern California.
In July 2010, the Public Diplomacy Division established an active presence on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Suri was closely associated with the initiative and advocated the use of social media for direct communication between the ministry and the public. The platforms were subsequently used for public communication during situations including the evacuation of Indian nationals from Libya.
The Public Diplomacy Division received the e-Gov 2.0 Award in 2010 for innovative use of social media and Web 2.0 technologies, with Suri receiving the award on behalf of the division.
Ambassador to Egypt
Following the Arab Spring and the political transition in Egypt, Suri was appointed India's Ambassador to Egypt. His tenure coincided with the political transition following the end of Hosni Mubarak's presidency and the subsequent changes in Egypt's political leadership.
During his tenure, Suri worked to maintain India's political and economic engagement with Egypt and promoted Indian commercial interests. He supported the establishment of an India Business Group to facilitate business engagement between the two countries. The Indian Embassy also expanded its use of social media to engage with Egyptian audiences, particularly younger people.
Suri was associated with the launch of India by the Nile, an annual cultural festival intended to promote Indian culture in Egypt. The festival brought together Indian and Egyptian artists and performers and subsequently became an established cultural event.
High Commissioner to Australia
In 2015, Suri was appointed High Commissioner of India to Australia and took up the position in Canberra in April of that year. His appointment followed a period of renewed political engagement between India and Australia, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Australia in 2014.
During his tenure, Suri worked to strengthen India's strategic relationship with Australia, including cooperation in defence and security. He also promoted greater Australian investment in India and engaged with Australian superannuation funds and other institutional investors.
The High Commission also organised the Festival of India in Australia. The resulting programme, Confluence, presented Indian music, dance, theatre, visual arts and other cultural forms across several Australian cities, with 72 events held in seven cities over three months.
Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates
In 2016, Suri was appointed Ambassador of India to the United Arab Emirates. He presented his credentials in January 2017 and served in Abu Dhabi until 2019. His tenure coincided with a period of significant expansion in India–UAE political, economic and strategic relations.
During this period, India and the UAE elevated their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, with cooperation expanding across defence, security, energy, infrastructure and economic sectors. Defence cooperation also increased, including military exchanges and the first bilateral naval exercise between India and the UAE in 2018.
Suri worked to strengthen economic engagement between Indian companies and UAE investment institutions, including the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Mubadala Investment Company. Cooperation expanded in areas including financial services, infrastructure, housing, highways, renewable energy and logistics. He also participated in efforts to deepen energy cooperation between the two countries, including engagement with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.
Suri also promoted cultural and community engagement through the Indian Embassy and highlighted the role of the Indian community in the UAE in strengthening people-to-people relations.
At the conclusion of his tenure, UAE President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan conferred the First Class Order of Zayed II on Suri in recognition of his contribution to the development and strengthening of relations and cooperation between India and the UAE. The award was presented by UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan in September 2019.
Suri retired from the Indian Foreign Service in September 2019 after 36 years of diplomatic service.
Post-retirement activities
Following his retirement from the Indian Foreign Service in 2019, Suri became involved in corporate, academic, public-policy and literary institutions. His post-retirement work has included board-level responsibilities in the infrastructure, financial services and technology sectors, as well as continued engagement with international affairs and public policy.
Suri has developed a particular focus on the Middle East and India's relations with the region, drawing on his diplomatic experience in Egypt and Syria early in his career and his later tenure as India's Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates. He has continued to contribute to public discussions on Middle Eastern affairs, India–Middle East relations and international geopolitics. He is frequently invited by Indian television and news organisations to provide commentary and analysis on developments in the Middle East and India's foreign-policy interests in the region.