Ambassador's introduction

Finland and India are close to each other – the direct flight from Helsinki to New Delhi only takes about eight hours. The diverse cooperation between our countries is increasing all the time. Our relations are excellent, but there is great potential to do even more together!

Ambassador Kimmo Lähdevirta leads the Embassy of Finland in New Delhi, India, since June 2023.

Prior to his current position, Ambassador Lähdevirta has served as the Ambassador of Finland in Vietnam (2011-2015) and in Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia (2019-2023).

He has also served as the Director General of the Department for the Americas and Asia (2015-2019) at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, managing political and economic relations with e.g. the United States, China, India, Japan and Brazil, in addition to other countries  of these regions.

Ambassador Lähdevirta has worked for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs since 1990, serving also in various positions at the Department for International Trade and at the Political Department, where he e.g. headed the Unit for European Common Foreign and Security Policy, and the Unit for Security Policy and Crisis Management. Lähdevirta has also served in New York (at the Permanent Mission of Finland to the United Nations), London and Beijing, where he was the Deputy Head of Mission (2007-2011).

Ambassador Lähdevirta was born in Helsinki, Finland in 1960. He is married with two children.