New arrivals
Stefan Pehringer
Ambassador of Austria
Ambassador Pehringer joined the foreign ministry in 1996 after
completing studies in law at the University of Vienna and the University of Göttingen.
In his first job, he worked in the press and security policy departments before being sent to Luxembourg as an exchange diplomat. He returned a year later to the human rights department before doing an exchange with the German foreign ministry in Bonn in 1999. Later that year, he was posted as first secretary to Austria’s mission in Berlin for four years before going to Denmark as deputy chief of mission for three years.
Back at headquarters, he worked in the Americas’ department and the Eastern Asia and UNESCO units before becoming ambassador to Latvia in 2011. From 2014 to 2016, he was the diplomatic adviser to the chancellor and later, the speaker of parliament.
Pehringer is married and speaks Austrian, English, French, Italian and Russian.
Denis Fontes De Souza Pinto
Ambassador of Brazil
Ambassador De Souza Pinto joined the foreign service in 1979 and then did a two-year stint at the Trade Promotion Department (1980-1981). In 1983, he was posted to Germany and three years later, he was transferred to Ecuador. In August 1989, he began a two-year posting in China.
Back at headquarters, he worked in administration services before working under the deputy minister of foreign affairs.
In 1995, he was posted as a counsellor to Paris (1995-1998) and Pretoria (1998-2001). Back in Brasilia, he was the general co-ordinator for budget and finances from 2001 to 2003 and deputy chief of mission to the European Union in Brussels from 2003 to 2006.
After returning to headquarters, he headed the foreign service department and served as its undersecretary. Between 2013 and 2017, he was ambassador to the Vatican, during which time he accompanied Pope Francis to Brazil.
Lu Shaye
Ambassador of China
Ambassador Lu joined China’s foreign service in 1987 and one year later, he was sent to Guinea on a three-year posting as an attaché. He returned to headquarters in 1991 and held several titles over the next seven years, including deputy division director, first secretary and division director, all in the African affairs department. In 1999, he was named a counsellor in the same department and two years later, he was sent to France on a two-year posting. When he returned to headquarters, he became deputy director-general in the African Affairs department for two years, before being posted to Senegal as ambassador for four years.
When he returned to the African Affairs department he was named director-general, a position he held for five years. In 2014, he became vice-mayor of Wuhan, in Hubei province, for one year before becoming director-general in the bureau of policy research of the Communist Party of China.
Lu is married with one son.
Vikas Swarup
High Commissioner for India
High Commissioner Swarup joined the Indian foreign service in 1986, but his bigger claim to fame is as the author of Q&A, a novel that was adapted into the Oscar-winning film, Slumdog Millionaire.
In a career spanning more than 30 years, he has served in diplomatic assignments in Ankara, Washington D.C., Addis Ababa, London, Pretoria and Osaka-Kobe.
At headquarters, Swarup has served as the desk officer for Southern Africa, the U.S. and Canada, director for Pakistan, Nepal and Bhutan and director in charge of the office of the minister of external affairs.
After serving as joint secretary of the United Nations, he was appointed the official spokesman for the ministry of external affairs in April 2015.
Swarup’s wife, Aparna, is an artist whose work has been featured in several exhibitions in India and abroad. They have two sons.
Nimrod Barkan
Ambassador of Israel
Ambassador Barkan is a 40-year veteran of bilateral and multilateral Israeli diplomacy and policy-making.
Barkan served as senior assistant to the foreign minister and the director general. At the ministry of defence, he ran and rebuilt the centre for policy research during and after the second Lebanon war in 2006. He previously headed the world Jewish and interreligious affairs bureau at the foreign ministry, and he has represented Israel in various positions, including as ambassador to the United States, Egypt and Paris.
The ambassador, who is married and has two daughters, also taught international relations while on the faculty of the national defence college and the department of international relations at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Nguyen Duc Hoa
Ambassador of Vietnam
Ambassador Nguyen is a career diplomat. He joined the foreign ministry in 1981 as a desk officer in the department of Chinese affairs, after which he was posted to Beijing for four years.
He returned to headquarters for eight years, first as a desk official for the department of Chinese Affairs. In 1998, he was named deputy director-general of the policy planning department.
In 2002, he was named minister-counsellor and deputy chief of mission at Vietnam’s embassy in Britain, where he stayed for four years. From 2006 to 2009, he returned to his old job as deputy director general of the policy planning department. In 2010, he was named ambassador to Sweden for three years, then became director-general of policy planning.
The ambassador completed a bachelor’s degree in international relations at the diplomatic academy of Vietnam. He studied international relations at the University of California and Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics and also studied at the National Academy of Public Administration in Vietnam.
He is married to Tran Nguyen Anh Thu and has two children.
Non-heads of mission
Albania
Viktor Kalemi
Minister
Argentina
Juan Martin Muda
Second secretary
Agustina Maria Alvarez Vicente
Second secretary
Australia
Michelle Dianne Manson
Deputy head of mission
Brazil
Maria Elisa Maia
Minister
Bulgaria
Georgi Ivanov Ovcharov
First secretary
Chile
Miguel Waldo Jara Quezada
Attaché
China
Yanqun Wang
First secretary
Kun Lou
Attaché
Deqi Xu
First secretary
Xue Dong
First secretary
Yiwei Chen
Attaché
Colombia
Maria Fernanda Forero Ramirez
First secretary
Croatia
Ivica Olujic
Defence, naval & air attaché
European Union
Maria Caridad Vicen Enguita
Attaché
Germany
Marion Fuss
Attaché
Greece
Stefanos
Ampouleris
Defence attaché
India
Narender Singh
Attaché
Indonesia
Nadia Amalia
Third secretary
Japan
Keisuke Kubo
Attaché
Jordan
Ismael Maddallah Suliman
Maaytah
Minister and chargé d’affaires
Korea
Kyoungsoo Lee
First secretary
Nigeria
Mac Ogom Okwechime
Minister
Portugal
Monica Maria De Magalhaes Moutinho
First secretary
Qatar
Mohammed Khalifa H. Alnasr
Third secretary
Russia
Vladimir Proskuryakov
Minister-counsellor
Dmitry Dzyuban
First secretary
Anton Pichugin
Attaché
Saudi Arabia
Fawzy Abdulghani Q. Bukhari
Attaché
Senegal
Salifou Diadiou
First secretary
Tanzania
Fortunata Charles Ngoli
Counsellor
Ukraine
Oleh Khavroniuk
First secretary
Oleksii Liashenko
Counsellor
United Kingdom
Natalie Louise Hearn
First secretary
United States of America
Rosario Pete Vasquez
Assistant attaché
Zambia
Charlotte Mulenga Chansa-Muntanga
First secretary
Zimbabwe
Lawrencia Mariga
Second secretary
