NEW DELHI: Vikram Doraiswami, a seasoned diplomat from Tamil Nadu whose father served in the Indian Air Force and and fought in the Bangladesh War, was on Thursday appointed as India’s new ambassador to China, amid ongoing efforts by the two countries to rebuild ties strained by the over four-year military standoff in eastern Ladakh.
Doraiswami, a 1992-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, is currently serving as Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. He will succeed Pradeep Kumar Rawat.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Doraiswami is expected to take up the new assignment shortly.
In the last few months, India and China have stepped up efforts to stabilise their relations, seeking a reset after the 2020 military standoff in the Galwan Valley plunged ties to the lowest point in decades. The military 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 earned an elective diploma in Chinese from 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 as Deputy Chief of Protocol (ceremonials) at the MEA.
After a two-year stint, he was attached to the Prime Minister's Office. He later served as private secretary to the prime minister of India.
Doraiswami also served at the Indian Permanent UN Mission in New York and at the Consulate General in Johannesburg.
In July 2011, he returned to the MEA in New Delhi, where he helmed the division for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
From October 2012 to October 2014, Doraiswami was joint secretary of the Americas Division of the MEA. He became Ambassador of India to Uzbekistan in October 2014, before being assigned as India's envoy to the Republic of Korea in April 2015.
On completion of this assignment, he returned to the MEA headquarters in July 2018, serving as head of the Bangladesh and Myanmar division.
In December, he became the additional secretary responsible for International Organisations and Summits.
Before assuming the charge as the envoy to the UK, Doraiswami served as the High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh from October 2020 to 18 September 2022.
He assumed charge as the High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom on 23 September 2022.
Doraiswami speaks Mandarin, French and some Korean.
(With inputs from Online Desk)