PTI Names Veteran Journalist Vijay Joshi as Editor-In-Chief

Vijay Joshi replaces MK Razdan, who retired as Editor-in-Chief in September.

The Press Trust of India (PTI) has named veteran journalist Vijay Joshi, who has spent three decades covering Asia and the Middle East, as the news agency's Editor-in-Chief.

Joshi, 54, replaces MK Razdan, who retired as Editor-in-Chief in September.

Joshi, who took over on Friday, has worked at PTI in the '80s and has spent a large part of his career at The Associated Press (AP), where he served in various roles in India, Singapore, Egypt, Malaysia and Thailand.

He was until recently AP's director of news for Southeast Asia, overseeing text, video and photo operations.

We are very pleased to have Vijay on board. He brings a wealth of experience in traditional and new media. We have no doubt that he will take PTI to greater heights.

Riyad Mathew, Chairman, PTI

As PTI's Editor-in Chief, Joshi will oversee the work of some 900 reporters, editors and part-time journalists across India and in bureaus in major world capitals.

It is an incredibly exciting time to be returning to India. The country is going through monumental changes – in politics, economy, science, lifestyle and in the media. It will be a privilege to lead India’s premier news organization as it continues to do what it does best – report the news fairly, quickly and impartially.

Vijay Joshi

He began his career as a sub-editor at the Indian Express in Hyderabad in 1985, before moving to PTI in December 1986. After more than two years at PTI, where he was copy editor and a reporter, Joshi joined AP in New Delhi, helping cover South Asia's politics, insurgencies, wars, tragedies and sports.

He was promoted as news editor of AP's Singapore bureau in 1994, and three years later was sent to Cairo to be part of a large team of journalists covering the Middle East. During his three-year stint in Egypt he was also deployed to Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon and Libya.

Joshi subsequently served as news editor of the AP's Thailand operations in the 2000s and as the chief of bureau for Malaysia and Singapore. He was named assistant Asia-Pacific editor in January 2011, and subsequently Southeast Asia news director.