The diplomatic community in Indonesia will soon have two more new female members. They are India’s new ambassador to Indonesia Navrekha Sharma and Bangladeshi ambassador Salma Khan.

From the 89 foreign missions here at present, only two missions are headed by women: Thai Ambassador Atchara Seriputra and Zimbabwean Ambassador Alice Mageza.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono Tuesday received letters of credence from the five new foreign ambassadors including Sharma and Khan. The three others are Singaporean ambassador Ashok Kumar Mirpuri, Swiss envoy Bernardino Regazzoni and Holy See Apostolic Nunciature’s Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli.

Ambassador Sharma, an experienced and adept career diplomat, is neither new to Jakarta nor to her ambassadorial post. She worked in Jakarta from 1993 to 1996 as deputy chief of mission.

She joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1971 after obtaining an M.A. degree in sociology. She has also worked in Brussels and Paris.

Prior to coming to Jakarta, Sharma, who speaks fluent Hindi, English and French, was Indian ambassador to the Philippines.

Singapore’s new envoy Mirpuri is also an experienced career-diplomat.

In the two decades of his distinguished diplomatic career, Mirpuri spent six years in Jakarta: first during 1987-1991 as first secretary (political) and second during 1998-2000 as minister counselor. For Mirpuri, it will be the third tenure in Jakarta.

Mirpuri’s previous posting was in Kuala Lumpur (2002-2006) as Singapore’s high commissioner to Malaysia. He served as high commissioner to Australia from 2000 to 2002.

Mirpuri, an alumni of the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies as well as Harvard Business School in the USA, is a keen golfer and an athlete.

Ambassador Regazzoni is not only an adept diplomat but also a scholar who has a doctorate in philosophy. He joined the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs in 1988. Prior to his posting in Jakarta, Regazzoni was Switzerland’s ambassador to Sri Lanka (2002-2006). Previously, he worked in Abidjan and Kinshasa.

Regazzoni is married and has two children.

Archbishop Girelli, who speaks fluent Italian, English, French and Spanish, was ordained as a priest in the Catholic Church in 1978. He has a doctorate degree in pastoral theology

Girelli joined the Holy See’s diplomatic service in 1987 and has served in Cameroon, New Zealand and the U.S.

Girelli was appointed by the Pope Benedict XVI as Apostolic Nuncio to Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, on April 13, 2006.

Unlike the above four envoys, Ambassador Salma Khan, a non-career diplomat, has a different background.

Khan is an economist by profession but she is also a well-known human rights activist.

After obtaining her M.A. degree in economics from the University of Dhaka, Khan — a Fulbright scholar — studied at the University of Chicago to obtain her postgraduate degree in development economics.

In 1997, Khan was elected as the chairperson of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). She was a member of CEDAW for almost nine years.

Khan, who is married and has one daughter, is a prolific writer.

Veeramalla Anjaiah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta