SENIOR diplomat P Kumaran last Wednesday (13) assumed charge as India’s high commissioner-designate to the UK.
A 1992-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, Kumaran was serving as Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs before taking up the role. He succeeds Vikram Doraiswami, who has taken over as India’s ambassador to China.
“The team at India House in London warmly welcomes High Commissioner-designate P Kumaran on assuming charge today," the High Commission of India in London said in a social media post.
“We look forward to working under his leadership and guidance to further strengthen the India-UK partnership," it added.
Kumaran was received on arrival by deputy high commissioner Kartik Pande and Gordon Wetherell CMG, special representative of foreign secretary Yvette Cooper.
He is fluent in English, Hindi, Tamil and Arabic and has previously served as India’s ambassador to Qatar and high commissioner to Singapore.
His tenure in the UK will formally begin after he presents his credentials to King Charles at a ceremony expected in the coming weeks.
The ceremony involves diplomats presenting their Letter of Commission, the formal letter from Indian president Droupadi Murmu asking the British monarch to give “credence” to the country’s new high commissioner.
