MAIN MANDARIN
Because in just three months after taking over as the top diplomat, he has pushed a new foreign policy line, from steering a reset in relations with Beijing to prioritising a more robust focus on the immediate neighbourhood
Because the former ambassador to China has the PM’s ear. His hard-nosed realist view of the world and his coolheaded demeanour helped in the parleys with China to defuse the border stand-off in Doklam last year
THE BIG TAIL Gokhale rarely misses morning walks with his pet Rottweiler