Dr.M.Venkatachalam belongs to Indian Foreign Service 2005 batch. In his diplomatic assignments abroad, he had served as Head of Chancery, Second Secretary/First Secretary in Embassy of India, Tokyo (Japan) (2007-2012). He had served as Charge d’ affaires (Cd’a) in Embassy of India Prague, Czech Republic in 2015 . After appointment Ambassador of India to Czech Republic, he had served as Head of Chancery/First Secretary in Embassy of India in Prague (2016-2017).

      In his stints at Headquarters New Delhi, he had served as Under Secretary (Bhutan) in 2013, Deputy Secretary (Gulf) in 2014, Director (External Publicity) from 2018-2020. At the onset of COVID pandemic, he had served as Director(COVID Cell) and Director (East and Southern Africa) 2020 in the Ministry of External Affairs New Delhi. In January 2021, he was transferred to Chennai, there he served as Head of Branch Secretariat and Protector of Emigrants, Chennai in the Ministry of External Affairs.

      He was awarded Ph.D in Economics for his thesis in Food Security in 2005 by Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi which is a pioneering institute for Green Revolution in India.

      He speaks Tamil, Hindi, English and Japanese. He survives by his wife and two sons.