Ex-foreign secretary Kwatra appointed as India's next ambassador to US

Former Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra was on Friday appointed as India's ambassador to the United States.

"He is expected to take up the assignment shortly," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

The post of India's envoy to the US has been lying vacant since Taranjit Sandhu retired in January.

Kwatra served as the foreign secretary from May 1, 2022, to July 14, 2024.

Kwatra joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1988 and served in India's Permanent Mission in Geneva in the initial years of his service.

Between 1993 and 2003, he served as a desk officer at the external affairs ministry's headquarters in Delhi dealing with the United Nations, and subsequently in the diplomatic missions in South Africa and Uzbekistan.

From 2003 to 2006, he served as the counsellor and later as the deputy chief of mission at the Indian embassy in Beijing.

From 2006 to 2010, he represented India at the SAARC Secretariat in Nepal as head of the trade, economy and finance bureau. From May 2010 ti