|
Susmita Gongulee Thomas
Consul General of India, San Francisco
Bio-Profile
Susmita Gongulee Thomas is an experienced and senior Indian bureaucrat
with over 32 years of experience in international and foreign
affairs. She joined the prestigious Indian Foreign Service in
1976. During her last 32 years she has served in widely differing
diplomatic assignments in Spain, Japan, USA, Cote d’ Ivoire
(Ivory Coast), Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia and Chile. Her assignment
as the Indian Ambassador to Cote d’ Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
was a very challenging one. During her tenure, she survived three
successive coups and despite rebel fire, successfully repatriated
thousands of stranded Indians from these war torn countries. She
recognized the opportunity for helping people amidst the challenges;
while 48 other embassies chose to close, she courageously decided
not only to keep the Indian embassy open but also supported the
needy with timely help, food supplies and medicines, keeping alive
the relations between her country and these two countries.
Following such a challenging assignment she was posted as the
Ambassador of India to Chile, with the mandate to build up bilateral
relations which have been low-key for over 65 years. She has achieved
her mandate, in that for the last two years India and Chile have
experienced a meteoric rise in their bilateral relations. Ambassador
Gongulee Thomas successfully organized the first ever visit by
a Chilean President to India. Also other high level visits. She
has been the driving force behind the negotiations for the Preferential
Trade Agreement between the two countries. During the first two
years of her current tenure, the trade between the two countries
has grown by 196%. Chile is now an important strategic partner
for India in Latin America and the second largest trade partner
after Brazil. Both countries are poised on the brink of a growth
spurt in fields as diverse as pharmaceuticals, IT, research in
alternative medicine, distance education, space and Antarctica.
India and Chile have developed shared vision and strategies for
promoting democracy all over the world, tackling terrorism and
improving the living standards of their people. Ambassador Gongulee
Thomas has played a crucial role in identifying, designing, planning,
executing and consolidating the relationship between our two countries
which have many common needs and developmental levels, even though
they are miles apart.
Ambassador Gongulee Thomas holds a Masters Degree in Organic
Chemistry. She has also successfully completed a Ford Foundation
Scholarship program on US Foreign Policy Process from University
of Maryland, USA. She is an ardent supporter of utilizing the
best practices of new management fields like Project Management
and is today recognized by the Project Management Institute USA
as an influential diplomat who has contributed substantially to
spreading the message about the importance of Project Management
especially for developing countries. She has helped to create
the discipline of Project Management in the University of Santo
Tomas and in the University of Desarollo, Santiago.
Ambassador Gongulee Thomas has two school-going children: a son
and a daughter. While Ambassador Gongulee Thomas has dynamically
developed the international relations between our two countries,
she has also ably fulfilled her role as a mother and a wife, successfully
consolidating and developing strong family values. She is ably
supported by her husband Thomas P. Thomas, an entrepreneur, a
PMP, and a management graduate from Wharton Business School.
Susmita Thomas New Consul General at SF Date Submitted: Thu Sep
04, 2008
BY A STAFF REPORTER
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Susmita Gongulee Thomas an experienced and
senior Indian bureaucrat with over 32 years of experience in international
and foreign affairs has taken over as the new Consul General of
India in San Francisco.
She joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1976. During the last
32 years she has served in differing diplomatic assignments in Spain,
Japan, USA, Cote d’ Ivoire, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia
and Chile.
During her tenure as the Indian Ambassador to Cote d’ Ivoire,
she survived three successive coups and despite rebel fire, successfully
repatriated thousands of stranded Indians from these war torn countries.
She recognized the opportunity for helping people amidst the challenges;
while 48 other embassies chose to close, she courageously decided
not only to keep the Indian embassy open but also supported the
needy with timely help, food supplies and medicines, keeping alive
the relations between the two countries.
Following such a challenging assignment she was posted as the Ambassador
of India to Chile, with the mandate to build bilateral relations
which have been low-key for over 65 years. Fr the last two years
India and Chile have experienced a meteoric rise in their bilateral
relations. Ambassador Thomas successfully organized the first ever
visit by a Chilean President to India. She has been the driving
force behind the negotiations for the Preferential Trade Agreement
between the two countries. During the first two years of her tenure,
the trade between the two countries grew 96%. Chile is now an important
strategic partner for India in Latin America and the second largest
trade partner after Brazil.
Ambassador Thomas holds a Masters Degree in Organic Chemistry.
She has also successfully completed a Ford Foundation Scholarship
program on US Foreign Policy Process from University of Maryland,
USA. She is an ardent supporter of utilizing the best practices
of new management fields like Project Management and is today recognized
by the Project Management Institute USA as an influential diplomat
who has contributed substantially to spreading the message about
the importance of Project Management especially for developing countries.
She has helped to create the discipline of Project Management in
the University of Santo Tomas and in the University of Desarollo,
Santiago.
She has two school-going children: a son and a daughter. She is
ably supported by her husband Thomas P. Thomas, an entrepreneur,
a PMP, and a management graduate from Wharton Business School.
|