After a brief stint in the banking sector, Mr Mysore Kapanaiah Lokesh, joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1977. He spent his early diplomatic career in Sri Lanka and Belgium. During his first stint in Brussels, Belgium, he handled India’s relations with the European Economic Commission. The main function of his assignment, was to strengthen Indo-EU relations in the economic sector. Thereafter, he was deputed to the Indian Atomic Energy commission in Mumbai, with the specific responsibility of managing relations with other countries in the field of peaceful uses of atomic energy. During 1991-94, he functioned as the Deputy High commissioner of India to Nigeria, Cameroon, Republic of Benin and Chad. His main responsibility was to promote India’s economic and trade links with Nigeria which was the largest market for India in Africa. Thereafter, he was Minister (political) in the Indian Embassy in Washington D.C.., USA (194-97) and Consul General of India in Durban, South Africa (1997-2000). In Durban, one of his major functions was to expand economic and trade relations with South Africa with which India has just established diplomatic relations after the apartheid era. He was a member of Joint Economic commissions between India and South Africa as well as between India and the USA.
During 2000-2004, he headed the Africa Division in the Indian Ministry of External Affairs being responsible for relations with the entire Sub-Saharan Africa. He played an important role in strengthening development cooperation between and India and the Sub-saharan African countries. He activated Joint Economic Commissions with many leading countries leading to greater participation of Indian companies in the African economic sector. During 2004-2007, he was ambassador of India to the Slovak republic. During this period, he handled the visit of the Slovak President Gasprovich to India leading to many agreements being signed between the two countries. He was instrumental in organising two sessions of the Indo-Slovak Joint Economic Commission , as well as organising a large number of visits of business organisations and trade fairs in Slovakia. He was honoured by the Slovak Government with a medal of honour. The medal was given at a special ceremony by the Slovak Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Kubich.
During 2007-2010, Mr Lokesh was Deputy Chief of the Indian Mission to Belgium, Luxembourg and the European Union, based in Brussels. In this capacity he was a member of the Indian delegation to the Indo-EU negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement as well as the Indo-Belgian Joint Economic and Trade Commission. Thereafter, he was India’s Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates which was the largest trading partner of India. In view of his contribution to strengthen India-UAE relations in general and relations in the Economic and Trade sector in particular, the UAE Government honoured him with the Presidential medal which was given to him by the UAE Foreign Minister, His Highness, Sheikh Abdulla bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
During 2013-15, he was India’s Ambassador to Switzerland with concurrent accreditation to Liechstenstein and the Holy See. He retired from the Government service in May 2015. During his various assignments, Mr Lokesh has developed extensive experience and contacts with business sectors , both in India and abroad.
