NEW DELHI: Pranay Verma is set to be India’s next high commissioner to Bangladesh, replacing Vikram Doraiswami who is tipped to be the new envoy to the UK, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
The changes are part of a string of ambassadorial appointments to key countries, including Canada, Japan and New Zealand, the people said. These are the first appointments to be made after Vinay Kwatra took over as foreign secretary in May.
Verma, an officer of the 1994 batch of the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and currently the envoy to Vietnam, is expected to take over the position in Dhaka sometime before Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India in September. The post in Dhaka is crucial because of Bangladesh’s importance in India’s “Neighbourhood First” policy. Verma has in the past held diplomatic assignments in Hong Kong, San Francisco, Beijing, Kathmandu and Washington.
Doraiswami, who has served as the Indian envoy to Uzbekistan and South Korea and as private secretary to the prime minister, has played a crucial role in steering India-Bangladesh ties over the past two years. He is set to go to the UK in place of Gaitri Issar Kumar, who retired on June 30.
Sudhakar Dalela, an officer of the 1993 batch of IFS, too was in contention for the post in Dhaka. However, Dalela, currently the deputy chief of mission in the embassy in Washington, was last week named as the next ambassador to Bhutan.
Dalela also served as director in the Prime Minister’s Office, focusing on India’s engagement with South Asian neighbors, and as the joint secretary handling ties with Bhutan and Nepal at the time of the 2017 Doklam standoff with China.
Sibi George, an officer of the 1993 batch of IFS and currently the envoy to Kuwait, is set to be the next ambassador to Japan. The current envoy to Japan, Sanjay Verma, is expected to be the new high commissioner to Canada, the people said. The previous envoy to Canada, Ajay Bisaria, retired on June 30.
The post in Tokyo is crucial because of the growing relations between India and Japan, both bilaterally and in multilateral forums such as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or Quad. India and Japan are also working on building critical supply chains with third countries such as Australia.
George has widespread experience, having held diplomatic assignments in Islamabad, Washington, Cairo and Doha and served as deputy chief of mission in Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Sanjay Verma, an officer of the 1988 batch of the IFS who has served as the envoy to Sudan and had stints at the missions in China and Italy, will have to steer the rebuilding of ties with Canada. Bilateral ties were hit after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau backed protests by Indian farmers against controversial farm laws in late 2020.
Amit Kumar, currently the consul general in Chicago, is expected to be the next ambassador to South Korea, another key partner for the country, especially in trade and investment. An officer of the 1995 batch of IFS, Kumar has experience in bilateral and multilateral diplomacy and has earlier served as deputy chief of mission in the embassy in Washington. He was also deputy chief of mission in the embassy in Japan.
In other appointments, Neeta Bhushan, currently additional secretary in the Central Europe division of the external affairs ministry, is tipped to be the next envoy to New Zealand, while Namgya Khampa, currently deputy chief of mission in the embassy in Nepal, is set to be the new envoy to Kenya. (Agencies)
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