New French envoy has had 7-yr China stint

New Delhi, September 17

Emmanuel Lenain, the new Ambassador-designate of France to India after previous incumbent Alexander Zeigler left to join an aerospace and defence multinational, is a China hand, besides having served in the US. 

Lenain served in China for seven years in his 22-year diplomatic career and knows Mandarin too.

Beginning his diplomatic career in 1997 with the French Foreign Ministry’s UN Department, he was appointed First Secretary to France’s Permanent Mission to the UN in 2000. 

In 2003, he was deputed to the Embassy of France in Beijing, returning to Paris two years later to serve as Prime Minister’s adviser until 2007 when he went to Washington to join the French Embassy’s Press and Communication Department. From 2010 to 2015, he served as Consul General of France in Shanghai and since then has served in Paris. He is fluent in English, Mandarin and German languages. — TNS