An Indian diplomat has grabbed national attention after he featured in one of the defining pictures from the recently concluded BRICS Summit. IFS officer Sidharth Babu was seen standing beside Prime Minister Narendra Modi during one of his interactions with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The image of the three leaders sharing a hearty exchange became one of the memorable moments of the summit in New Delhi.
The picture, which went viral, also brought the young IFS officer into spotlight. Fluent in Chinese, Babu was present on the scene to translate Xi Jinping’s remarks during the conversation with PM Modi. This experience also taught him how to deal with bilateral matters related to China. The theme of the summit was ‘Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability’. India played a key diplomatic role in bridging differences among members and building consensus on the New Delhi declaration.
Babu is a 2017-batch Indian Foreign Service officer. The 36-year-old holds the position of deputy secretary in the East Asia Division of the ministry of external affairs at present. Babu belongs to Kochi and he holds BTech degree in mechanical engineering from Mar Athanasius College of Engineering, from where he graduated in 2012. He secured All India Rank 15 in his second attempt at the UPSC examination and opted for IFS, according to a report by India Today Babu learned the Chinese language during his first overseas posting in Beijing, between 2018 and 2022. He obtained a master’s degree in Language Interpretation and Translation — Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, California, during his posting in the United States, where he served as a consul from August 2022 to June 2024. In 2024, Babu returned to New Delhi and was appointed as an Under Secretary. He went on to serve as the deputy secretary in the East Asia Division, starting January 2025. India hosted the 18th BRICS Summit on September 12 and 13, under its 2026 chairship as BRICS enters its third decade.
