New Delhi: Veteran diplomat Vikram Doraiswami has been appointed as India's next ambassador to China, marking a significant development in the country's diplomatic ties with Beijing. Doraiswami, who has served as the high commissioner to the United Kingdom, is expected to take up his new assignment shortly.
Doraiswami, a seasoned diplomat with over three decades of experience, has served in various capacities, including as envoy to Uzbekistan, South Korea, and Bangladesh. He has also held key positions at the headquarters, including head of the division for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) and joint secretary for the Americas division.
The appointment comes at a time when India and China are engaged in rebuilding their relationship after a prolonged military face-off on the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Doraiswami will replace Pradeep Rawat, who has played a key role in normalizing India-China ties since the two sides ended a four-year standoff in Ladakh sector of the LAC in October 2023.
Doraiswami's first foreign posting was to the Indian high commission in Hong Kong in 1994, where he learned Mandarin at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He has also served as private secretary to late prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and consul general in Johannesburg, South Africa.
