Meet the Malayali diplomat behind Modi, Xi and Putin during BRICS summit

KOCHI: A Malayali diplomat from Kochi has suddenly found himself at the centre of social media attention after appearing in a photograph with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The photograph, shared by Modi during the BRICS summit, quickly went viral, with many online users asking the same question: Who is the fourth man standing behind the three world leaders? He is 36-year-old Sidharth Babu, a 2017-batch Indian Foreign Service officer from Kaloor, Kochi.

And there is more to Siddharth Babu than his fleeting appearance in a high-profile photograph. He secured 15th rank in the UPSC Civil Services Examination and, before entering the IFS, had completed his BTech and worked in the private sector. What makes his diplomatic profile particularly interesting is his China connection.

Babu opted for Mandarin as his foreign language, spent around four years in China between 2018 and 2022 and served at the Indian Embassy in Beijing. His training and experience have given him a specialised understanding of the Chinese language and the country’s political and strategic landscape. He is currently posted in the Ministry of External Affairs’ East Asia division.

Siddharth Babu’s sudden social-media visibility also brings back memories of another Malayali-linked Mandarin expert in Indian diplomacy. In 2019, R Madhusudan, from Ramassery, Palakkad, a 2007-batch IFS officer, was among the diplomats who assisted Prime Minister Modi during his interactions with Xi Jinping. Madhusudan had served in Beijing and was fluent in Mandarin; he had also accompanied Modi during the Wuhan informal summit. Madhusudan is currently the Deputy Chief of Mission at the Indian Embassy in Tokyo, Japan.

The stories of Babu and Madhusudan point to a larger shift within Indian diplomacy language expertise, particularly Mandarin, is becoming an increasingly valuable specialisation for IFS officers dealing with China.

Sources say Kerala has its own share of diplomats choosing this demanding linguistic and diplomatic track. What began as a question on social media — “Who is that man in the Modi-Xi-Putin photograph?” — has therefore opened a window into a lesser-seen world of Indian diplomacy