Ambassador Anil Sooklal is the Ambassador-at-Large: Asia and BRICS at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, and South Africa’s BRICS Sherpa, IBSA Sherpa and Focal Point for IORA. He received two doctorates from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Ambassador Sooklal served as Deputy Director-General in DIRCO until 31 January 2022 and was South Africa’s G20 Sherpa and FOCAC. He also served as South Africa’s Ambassador to the European Union, Belgium, and Luxembourg, from 2006 to 2012 and well as in Geneva and New Delhi. Before joining DIRCO in 1995, he followed an academic career, at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and UNISA.
