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Jayant Khobragade named India's next envoy to ASEAN secretariat
India first posted a dedicated ambassador to ASEAN in 2014 following the elevation of ties between the two sides to a strategic partnership and in view of growing cooperation in areas ranging from security to trade.
India on Thursday named Jayant Khobragade as its next ambassador to the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) secretariat in Jakarta, months after Pakistan declined to accept his posting as the deputy chief of mission in Islamabad.
Khobragade, an officer of the 1995 batch of the Indian Foreign Service, is currently serving as a joint secretary in the external affairs ministry. He is expected to take up his assignment shortly, the ministry said.
India first posted a dedicated ambassador to ASEANin 2014 following the elevation of ties between the two sides to a strategic partnership and in view of growing cooperation in areas ranging from security to trade.
Pakistan had said in September last year that Khobragade was too senior for the post of deputy chief of mission in Islamabad.
The Indian and Pakistani missions in the two national capitals have been headed by the deputy chiefs of mission since August 2019, when Pakistan asked India to withdraw the then high commissioner as part of a slew of retaliatory actions in response to India’s decision to strip Jammu and Kashmir of its special status.
The Indian side had proposed Khobragade’s name in June 2020, days before New Delhi asked Islamabad to reduce the strength of its high commission by 50%. The move had triggered a reciprocal decision by the Pakistani side.
Khobragade had earlier served on deputation with the Department of Atomic Energy since 2017.
