NEW DELHI: The Centre has approved over a dozen appointments of new envoys in one stroke, which is said to include incumbents to the Indian missions in Washington and Paris.
And on Thursday the Ministry of External Affairs announced the names of two new Ambassadors on Thursday, the first ones after Narendra Modi took charge as the Prime Minister.
1981-batch IFS officer Vishnu Prakash, currently in Seoul, has been moved to Ottawa as the High Commissioner to Canada. This was a high-priority appointment as the post has been vacant since November and the Prime Minister’s visit was due in a few months.
1979-batch Indian Foreign Service officer Ajit Kumar has been made India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva. This also means that Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin will remain in Delhi for several more months.
The Centre had earlier this month approved the appointment of Envoy to Egypt Navdeep Suri as the next High Commissioner to Australia.
Sources told Express that around 13 new appointments were passed by the Prime Minister’s Office earlier this week. The details, though, are still sketchy, but it is likely that India’s representative in Washington has been decided-- the post having fallen vacant after the then incumbent S Jaishankar took over as the Foreign Secretary on January 29.
While there is no confirmation yet, the next Indian Ambassador to the US is likely to be 1979-batch Indian Foreign Service officer Arun Kumar Singh.
Paris is also there in the list and the front-runner here is Ambassador to Bahrain Mohan Kumar, a 1981-batch Indian Foreign Service officer.
The decision was taken a few days ago, but the news broke in South Block on Thursday, after telegrams were sent.
The list also includes some Joint Secretaries, who have been in the headquarters for over two years and were in line to leave for an Ambassadorial post.
However, the new development may lead to a reshuffle in the ministry.