Former Ambassador of India to Portugal, Laos

Dr. Jitendra Nath Misra retired from the Indian Foreign Service in 2016 at the end of a career spanning 34 years. He has served as India’s ambassador to Portugal, and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, and as India’s consul general in Ho Chi Minh City. He has two commendations from the Government of India for meritorious public service. 

A diplomat with overlapping skills and experience, Dr. Misra is a foreign affairs practitioner, an academic with publishing and teaching experience, a university administrator by dint of heading the Nalanda University project in the Ministry of External Affairs, an editor, and a columnist, broadcaster, and sports administrator. He has lived in or travelled to 34 countries and worked in 11.

Sport is also a key interest. Dr. Misra advises the Department of Sports and Youth Services, Government of Odisha, on Sports. He served as the Attaché to the Indian contingent at the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002. He was the winner of the Diplomatic Tennis Tournament in Israel, and a member of the Commonwealth cricket teams in the U.K. and Bangladesh. Dr. Misra is the vice president of the Jawaharlal Nehru Hockey Tournament Society, and the editorial adviser to Nehru Hockey Publications. He pioneered amateur field hockey in Israel, and has written extensively on the subject.

Dr. Misra was educated at Mayo College and St. Stephen’s College, from where he obtained a B.A. (Honours) in History. A visiting professor at Jamia Millia Islamia, he has previously taught in the U.S., Portugal and Vietnam. He has academic publications and op ed columns on foreign affairs and sports in India, the U.S., Portugal, Thailand and Vietnam. He holds M. Phil. and Ph.D. degrees in International Politics (Area Studies/ South Asia), as well as an M.A. in International Studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University. He has diplomas in Arabic and Vietnamese from the American University in Cairo, and the University of Social Sciences and Humanities - Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City. For his outstanding academic career, Dr. Misra has won many grants. He speaks fluent English, Arabic, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Odia, and basic Vietnamese and Portuguese.