NEW DELHI: The Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday announced the appointment of D Bala Venkatesh Varma as India’s ambassador to Russia, as well as new envoys for Ukraine and Kenya.
A 1998 batch IFS officer, Varma, currently India’s ambassador to Spain, “is expected to take up the assignment shortly,” an MEA statement said. He will replace Pankaj Saran, who has been appointed Deputy National Security Advisor.
Varma, who’s fluent in Russian, served in Moscow from 1990 to 1992 as Third Secretary, and then again as First Secretary from 2000 to 2003. He has also served as a Director in PMO and as Joint Secretary (Disarmament & International Security Affairs) at South Block, and as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva before he was appointed as ambassador to Madrid.
Varma’s appointment comes at a time when India and Russia are ramping up strategic cooperation, particularly after the “informal” May 21 summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin at the Russian resort town of Sochi. The two nations are also trying to overcome the diplomatic unease caused by India’s withdrawal from the joint 5th generation fighter aircraft production plans and the rising cost and service overruns of Russian weapons and aircraft which still form the backbone of India’s military.
The MEA also announced that Partha Satpathy, currently joint secretary (Latin America and the Caribbean), would be the Ambassador of India to Ukraine, while Rahul Chhabra, Ambassador of India to Budapest, Hungary, will be the next High Commissioner to Kenya.