SEASONED diplomat Vikram Doraiswami was on Thursday (19) appointed as India's new ambassador to China, a move that comes amid efforts by both sides to rebuild ties that came under severe strain following a military standoff of more than four years in eastern Ladakh.
Doraiswami, a 1992-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, is currently serving as India's high commissioner to the UK. He will succeed Pradeep Kumar Rawat.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Doraiswami is expected to take up the new assignment shortly.
In recent months, India and China have stepped up efforts to stabilise their relations, seeking a reset after the 2020 military confrontation in the Galwan Valley plunged ties to their lowest point in decades. The stand-off effectively ended in October 2024.
An alumnus of Delhi University with a master's degree in history, Doraiswami worked as a journalist for a year before joining the IFS.
Following his in-service training in New Delhi (1992–1993), Doraiswami was posted to Hong Kong in May 1994 as third secretary. There, he completed an elective diploma in Chinese at the New Asia Yale-in-Asia Language School before moving to Beijing in September 1996 for a four-year tenure.
In 2000, Doraiswami was appointed deputy chief of protocol (Ceremonials) at the MEA. After a two-year stint, he was seconded to the prime minister's Office, where he later served as private secretary to the prime minister.
FILE PHOTO: King Charles III receives His Excellency the High Commissioner for India Vikram Doraiswami and Sangeeta Doraiswami during an audience at Buckingham Palace on December 8, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Kirsty O'Connor - Pool/Getty Images)
Doraiswami also served at India's Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York and at the consulate general in Johannesburg.
In July 2011 he returned to the MEA in New Delhi, where he led the division for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). From October 2012 to October 2014 he served as joint secretary of the Americas Division. He was then appointed Ambassador to Uzbekistan in October 2014, before being posted as India's envoy to the Republic of Korea in April 2015.
On completion of that assignment, he returned to MEA headquarters in July 2018 as head of the Bangladesh and Myanmar Division. In December 2018, he became additional secretary responsible for International Organisations and Summits.
Prior to his UK posting, Doraiswami served as high commissioner to Bangladesh from October 2020 to 18 September 2022. He took up his current post as high commissioner to the UK on September 23, 2022.
Doraiswami speaks Mandarin and French, and has a working knowledge of Korean.
(PTI)
