NEW DELHI: India has communicated to
Washington
that former foreign secretary
Vinay Kwatra
will be its next
ambassador
to the US. A formal announcement will be made once the US approves his appointment, govt sources said.
Kwatra, who is known to be close to PM Modi, had been tipped to be India's next US ambassador. His appointment will take place at a difficult moment in India-US relationship, when the two sides are grappling with differences over an alleged Indian plot to murder a Khalistan separatist and US national and over India's ties with Russia.
A 1988 batch IFS officer, Kwatra retired as
foreign secretary
this month.
He was India's ambassador to Nepal when he was appointed foreign secretary. He also served as ambassador to France. Deputy NSA Vikram Misri succeeded Kwatra as foreign secretary this month.
The top post in Indian mission in Washington had been lying vacant for the past six months, since former ambassador Taranjit Sandhu retired.
US remains India's most important strategic partner, as obvious from the recently launched initiative on critical and emerging technology which is focused on removing barriers in technology and defence industrial cooperation. However, Indian govt continues to maintain strong ties with Russia as it believes Moscow has been one of India's most reliable partners, especially in the defence sector. India's long-established strategic autonomy was again on display this month as PM Modi visited Moscow. Days later, US ambassador Eric Garcetti said there'no such thing as strategic autonomy in times of conflict, while warning against taking India-US relationship for granted.
English (US) ·