In a major sweep of changes, the Indian government has shuffled new faces to top diplomatic positions. Navtej Sarna, currently a secretary (west) in MEA is posted to be the next high commissioner to London, a decision which seems to be made after considerate thought as he was Ambassador to Israel and will have the right political, cultural and diaspora skills for the job.
India's Ambassador to Bhutan, Gautam Bambawale will take from TCA Raghavan as high commissioner to Pakistan after he retires in December. Anil Wadhwa, secretary (east), will go to Rome, which has grown in importance given the level of Indian economic interests. Two senior-most officials in headquarters will be replaced by Amar Sinha and Amarendra Khatua, who will be the next Secretaries East and West. Sinha was India's ambassador to Afghanistan, overseeing the transition from the Karzai to Ghani government. Khatua is currently India's ambassador to Argentina. Syed Akbaruddin will take over as India's permanent representative in the UN in New York, replacing Asoke Mukerji who will be retiring. Before he leaves though, Akbaruddin will have to deliver the big ticket India-Africa summit in October.
P S Raghavan, India's representative in Moscow will be replaced by Pankaj Saran, currently India's high commissioner to Dhaka, when he retires at the end of the year. Saran was believed to have played a major role in securing the land boundary agreement between India and Bangladesh. Given Bangladesh's importance, the Indian government will move Harsh V Shringla from Bangkok to Dhaka. Shringla, one of MEA's finest, steered India's relations with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Maldives for several years and has a sound knowledge of the region and its complexities.
Vijay Gokhale, India's ambassador to Germany move to Beijing, when the current incumbent Ashok Kantha retires in a few months. He is believed to be one of the most knowledgeable officials to be entrusted with a very complex relationship. Sujan Chinoy, India's ambassador to Mexico, will take over from Deepa Wadhwa in Tokyo, to maintain the very important bilateral relationship, driven primarily by the interest of the two Prime Ministers, Modi and Shinzo Abe. Nengcha Lhouvum, director Foreign Service Institute is headed to Jakarta as India's ambassador in the Asean country. Gurjit Singh, currently in Indonesia, will take Vijay Gokhale's place in Berlin.
