Letter of Credence Ceremony, 25 November 2025

The Government has appointed Mr Jaya Ratnam as Singapore’s next Permanent Representative to the United Nations Offices in Geneva and Vienna, with concurrent accreditations as Permanent Representative to the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization and Resident Representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, and Mr Umej Singh Bhatia as Singapore’s next Ambassador to the French Republic. 

Mr Jaya Ratnam was Singapore’s Ambassador to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam from 2021 to 2025. 

Mr Ratnam joined the Singapore Foreign Service in 1991. He was Singapore’s High Commissioner to Brunei Darussalam from 2012 to 2016 and Singapore’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium, with concurrent accreditations to the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and the European Union from 2016 to 2020. Mr Ratnam also served overseas at the Singapore Permanent Mission in Geneva, the Singapore Embassy in Jakarta and the Singapore High Commission in Kuala Lumpur. In the Ministry’s headquarters, Mr Ratnam served in various capacities covering Europe, Southeast Asia, International Organisations, International Economics and Consular.

Mr Ratnam graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the National University of Singapore in 1991. He graduated with a Master of International Public Policy (with Distinction) with a concentration on Southeast Asian studies, from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University in Washington D.C., United States of America in 2000.

Mr Ratnam received the Public Administration Medal (Silver) in 2012 and the Long Service Medal in 2014. He is married to Mrs Sujatha Ratnam and they have three children.

Mr Bhatia was Singapore’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Offices in Geneva and Vienna, resident in Geneva, from 2019 to 2025. He was concurrently accredited as Permanent Representative to the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization and Resident Representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna.

Mr Bhatia joined the Foreign Service in 1996. He was Singapore’s Consul-General in Dubai from 2011 to 2012 and Singapore’s first resident Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates from 2013 to 2016. Mr Bhatia also served overseas at the Singapore Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York and the Singapore Embassy in Doha.  In the Ministry’s headquarters, Mr Bhatia served in various capacities covering Southeast Asia, Middle East and the United Nations.

Mr Bhatia graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with Double First Class Honours from the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, in 1995. In 2005, he obtained a Master of Arts in Regional Studies (Middle East) from Harvard University, United States of America. He recently attended the Advanced Management Programme at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France.

 Mr Bhatia received the Public Administration Medal (Bronze) in 2008, the Long Service Medal in 2019 and the Public Administration Medal (Gold) (COVID-19) in 2022. He is married to Madam Shireen Khushi and they have a daughter and a son.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SINGAPORE

25 NOVEMBER 2025

Mr Jaya Ratnam was Singapore’s Ambassador to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam from 2021 to 2025. 

Mr Ratnam joined the Singapore Foreign Service in 1991. In the Ministry’s Headquarters, Mr Ratnam served in  various appointments covering Europe, Southeast Asia,  International Organisations, International Economics and  Consular. 

Mr Ratnam was Singapore’s High Commissioner to Brunei Darussalam from 2012 to 2016 and Singapore’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium,  concurrently accredited to the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and the European  Union from 2016 to 2020. He also served overseas in various capacities in the  Singapore Permanent Mission in Geneva, the Singapore Embassy in Jakarta and  Singapore High Commission in Kuala Lumpur. 

Mr Ratnam graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the National  University of Singapore in 1991. He graduated with a Master of International  Public Policy (with Distinction) with a concentration on Southeast Asian studies,  from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns  Hopkins University in Washington D.C., United States of America in 2000 

In 2012, Mr Ratnam was conferred the Public Administration Medal  (Silver) in recognition of his service to Singapore. In 2014, Mr Ratnam was awarded the Long Service Medal.  

Mr Ratnam is married to Mrs Sujatha Ratnam and they have three children

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Mr Umej Singh Bhatia was Singapore’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Offices in Geneva and Vienna, resident in Geneva, from 2019 to 2025. He was concurrently accredited as Permanent Representative to the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty Organization and Resident Representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. 

In 1995, Mr Bhatia worked for the then Television Corporation of Singapore where he produced and presented the flagship current affairs programme “Talking Point”. 

Mr Bhatia joined the Foreign Service in 1996 and has served in various capacities covering Southeast Asia, Middle East and the United Nations in the Ministry's headquarters. Overseas, he served as First Secretary in Singapore’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York, from 1999 to 2003, including as Alternate Representative for Singapore on the United Nations Security Council from 2001-2002. In 2006, he was appointed Chargé d’Affaires with the rank of Counsellor at the Singapore Embassy in Doha and later Chargé d’Affaires with the rank of Minister-Counsellor, serving until 2011. Subsequently, he was Singapore’s Consul-General in Dubai from 2011 to 2012. He was appointed as Singapore’s first resident Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates from 2013 to 2016 in Abu Dhabi. From 2017 to 2019, Mr Bhatia served as Director-General, Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia in the Ministry’s headquarters. 

From 2009 to 2012, Mr Bhatia served on the board of Singapore’s Infocomm Development Authority (International).  

Mr Bhatia was a founding Co-Chair of the Friends of “COVAX”, the global pooled vaccine facility under the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, from 2020. He was appointed as a Council Member of the World Health Summit (WHS) from 2023-2024. He has also served as Singapore’s Governor on the International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors from 2022 to 2024. 

Mr Bhatia graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with Double First Class Honours from the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom in 1995 under a Singapore Broadcasting Corporation scholarship. He obtained a Master of Arts in Regional Studies (Middle East) from Harvard University, USA, in 2005 under a Ministry of Foreign Affairs scholarship. In 2025, he attended the Advanced Management Programme at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France.

Mr Bhatia received the Public Administration Medal (Bronze) in 2008, the Long Service Medal in 2019, the COVID-19 Resilience Medal and the Public Administration (Gold) (COVID-19) in 2022 from the Singapore Government, the latter being the highest honour awarded to a Singapore Foreign Service Officer during Singapore’s fight against COVID-19. He was also conferred the Order of Independence (First Class) by the President of the United Arab Emirates in 2016.  

Mr Bhatia is also a published historian who has written on early 20th century Singapore history and Middle East history. 

Mr Bhatia is married to Madam Shireen Khushi and they have a daughter and a son.  

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