Ambassador
Abhay Kumar
Abhay Kumar joined the Indian Foreign Service in 2003 after doing Masters in Geography at Jawaharlal Nehru University. He served as India's 21st Ambassador to Madagascar, concurrently accredited to Comoros from 2019-2022 and as Deputy Chief of Mission at Indian Embassy in Brasilia, Brazil from 2016-2019. He earlier served as First Secretary at the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu, Nepal from 2012-2016 and as Consul at the Consulate General of India in St. Petersburg, Russia from 2007-2010. He served as Third/Second Secretary at Indian Embassy Moscow, Russia from 2005 to 2007 and as Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy at the Ministry of External Affairs from 2010 - 2012. He is fluent in Russian, Portuguese, English, Nepali, Hindi, Magahi and has a working knowledge of French. Besides he is a well known poet, writer, editor, translator and artist with several books published to his credit. His book Nalanda: How it Changed the World has been a bestseller in 2025 and his lyrical and singable translation of Hanuman Chalisa into English has been awarded Sarojini Naidu Award for Poetry 2026.
In addition, he is the author of several poetry collections and the editor of The Book of Bihari Literature (HarperCollins India), The Bloomsbury Book of Great Indian Love Poems, The Bloomsbury Anthology of Great Indian Poems and Capitals. He is also the translator and editor of New Brazilian Poems (Ibis Libris, Rio). His poems have appeared in over 100 literary journals and magazines and have been translated into more than a dozen languages. His “Earth Anthem” has been translated into over 160 languages. He received the SAARC Literary Award in 2013 and was invited to record his poems at the Library of Congress, Washington DC, in 2018. His translation of Kalidasa’s Meghduta and Ritusamhara, both published by Bloomsbury India, received the KLF Poetry Book of the Year Award 2020–2021. His translation of the first Magahi novel Fool Bahadur was published by Penguin Random House as a modern classic.
He has held several solo art exhibitions across the world, including Elements (2009) at Door Gallery, Pushkinskaya-10, St. Petersburg; Enlightenment (2010) at Selskaya Zhizhn Gallery; New Symbols (2010) at the Sigmund Freud Museum; We Have Come Far (2011) at the Russian Centre, New Delhi; One Planet (2018) at the National Library, Brasília; UniVerse (2022) at The Akademia Malagasy, Antananarivo; and Shunyata (2024), showcased at multiple venues including Alliance Française de Delhi, Bihar Museum, and National Museum of India. He has also participated in numerous international group exhibitions in St. Petersburg and Paris, including shows at the Museum of Non-conformist Art, Arka Art Gallery, Markov Gallery, Central Manezh, Yusupov Palace Museum, and the Stieglitz Academy of Art and Design, as well as at Galerie Grand Eterna and Adzak Museum in Paris. In 2024, he participated in Spirituality in Art at the 8th Ancient Art Festival at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts.
****
