The 1984 batch Indian Foreign Service official succeeds recently retired Navtej Sarna.
Harsh Vardhan Shringla, who currently serves as India’s High Commissioner to Bangladesh, has been named the country’s next ambassador the United States.
The 1984 batch Indian Foreign Service official succeeds Navtej Sarna, who is retiring at the end of this month.
The Ministry of External Affairs, which announced the appointment on Thursday, said Shringla is “expected to take up the assignment shortly.â€
The veteran diplomat will be India’s 26th ambassador to the United States.
RELATED: A list of Indian ambassadors to the United States (May 2, 2015)
Sarna served in Washington as ambassador for two years.
Shringla, an alumnus of St. Stephen’s College in Delhi, has served India in a variety of capacities, including as ambassador to Thailand, during his 34-year career. He has also served as an Indian diplomat at UNESCO in Paris and at the United Nations in New York, as well as in Vietnam, Israel and South Africa.
At the Ministry of External Affairs, he served as a Joint Secretary responsible for Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Maldives.
According to his bio circulated by the Ministry, Shringla speaks French, Vietnamese and Nepalese, in addition to English and Indian languages. He is married to Mrs. Hemal Shringla and has one son.
The first Indian ambassador to the United States was Asaf Ali, who served in the position only a few months. The longest serving Indian envoy in Washington was B.K. Nehru, who was in office for seven years.
Riva Ganguly Das, a former Indian Consul General in New York, will succeed Shringla as High Commissioner in Dhaka.
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Consul General Riva Ganguly Das bid farewell to New York (July 21, 2017)
2 Comments
Shringla and Sarna, according to your reports, are both 26th ambassador to the US. How can that be possible?
Shringla and Sarna, according to your reports, are both 26th ambassador to the US. How can that be possible?