NEW DELHI: Former Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra has been nominated as the next Indian Ambassador to the US. India has officially communicated to the US about Kwatra’s nomination.
The nomination will be followed by procedural formalities in the US following which Kwatra will be taking over in Washington DC. The post had been lying vacant since January when Taranjit Singh Sandhu retired.
Kwatra ended his term as the Foreign Secretary on July 15 and was succeeded by Vikram Misri. Kwatra, a 1988 batch Indian Foreign Service Officer, remained the Foreign Secretary from April 2022 onwards.
The new Ambassador has been appointed at a time when India-US relations are going through a churn as the US has expressed its displeasure over India’s ties with Russia. Also, the US is pressing India to take action against those who tried to allegedly kill Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. An Indian Origin man, Vivek Gupta, was arrested in Czech Republic and was deported to the US at the behest of US authorities.