Former Ambassador of India to Portugal;

Dr. Jitendra Nath Misra retired from the Indian Foreign Service in 2016 as a Grade I officer, equivalent in rank to a secretary to the Government of India, after a 34 years’ career beginning in 1982. 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.

Misra is the rare diplomat with overlapping skills and experience: as a foreign affairs practitioner, as an academic with publications and teaching experience, as a university administrator by dint of heading the Nalanda University project in the Ministry of External Affairs, as an editor, and as a columnist, broadcaster and sports administrator. He has lived in or travelled to 34 countries, and has worked in 11. With vast international experience, he has the interpersonal skills to work in a multi- cultural and multi- national environment.

Being a scholar diplomat, Misra believes in the pursuit of scholastic and professional excellence within a liberal arts framework, and a celebration of diversity in a globalizing world. He has the necessary leadership ability, administrative and financial experience, political judgment, written and oral expression, and training to deliver the image of a rising India to the wider international community. He remains deeply committed to India, but also to the wider world.  

Misra was educated at the prestigious Mayo College and St. Stephen’s College, from where he obtained a B.A. (Honours) in History. He has 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. Misra speaks fluent English, Arabic, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Odia, and basic Vietnamese and Portuguese.

Misra’s outstanding academic career won him a grant as the Starr Foundation Associate at Georgetown University; the University Freeship, the Junior Research Fellowship and the Merit Cum Means Scholarship at Jawaharlal Nehru University; the National Scholarship at Delhi University and the Odisha Government Scholarship at Mayo College.

Misra has two commendations from the Government of India for meritorious public service. Apart from being an Honorary Citizen and Goodwill Ambassador of the City of Houston, Texas, he has the Medal of Ho Chi Minh City, and is a Distinguished Citizen of the City. He has the Keys to the City of Amarillo, Texas; Shreveport, Louisiana and Galveston, Texas. Misra was awarded the Chief of Army Staff’s Gold Medal for the Best National Security Essay.

Misra takes keen interest in sport. He was the Attache for 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 team in the U.K. As a hockey lover, he pioneered amateur field hockey in Israel, and is a mentor of the Jawaharlal Nehru Hockey Tournament Society. He is an editorial adviser to Nehru Hockey Publications and has written extensively on field hockey.