Vinay Kwatra Appointed Next Ambassador Of India To US

New Delhi: Vinay Mohan Kwatra has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the USA, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement on Friday. He is expected to take up the assignment soon. Kwatra, a 1988 batch officer appointed Foreign Secretary in April 2022, was serving as India’s envoy to Nepal before assuming the charge of the foreign secretary.

Kwatra, considered an expert in the US, China and European affairs, served as the Ambassador of India to France from August 2017 to February 2020 before his diplomatic posting to Nepal. A career diplomat with over 32 years of experience, he has also held the position of Joint Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) for two years between October 2015 and August 2017.

It may be recalled that 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.