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Vinay Kwatra to be next envoy to the US
The key position in Washington has been vacant since the last ambassador, Taranjit Sandhu, retired in January.
Former foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra, who completed an extended term this month, has been appointed as the next ambassador to the United States, and will play a key role in tackling several irritants that have emerged in bilateral ties.
Kwatra, 61, is expected to take up the assignment shortly, the external affairs ministry said in a formal announcement on Friday.
After getting an extension in service before the general election, Kwatra completed his term as foreign secretary on July 14. The key position in Washington has been vacant since the last ambassador, Taranjit Sandhu, retired in January.
Kwatra, who is considered to be close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and served as joint secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office during 2015-2017, will play a crucial role in both taking forward cooperation with the US in a wide range of areas and helping smooth over several irritants that have recently affected bilateral relations.
The US administration was recently miffed over Modi’s decision to make his first foreign trip in his third term to Moscow for co-chairing the annual India-Russia Summit with President Vladimir Putin at almost the same time that leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) had gathered for a summit to express their support to Ukraine.
Kwatra was the key Indian interlocutor engaged by US deputy secretary of state Kurt Campbell to convey Washington’s concerns over the timing of Modi’s visit, people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity.
Since last year, allegations by US prosecutors that an Indian intelligence official had directed a “murder for hire” plot to assassinate Khalistani activist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil have also affected ties. The Indian side has set up a high level inquiry committee to investigate inputs provided by the US but the panel’s findings are yet to be made public. Pannun has already been declared a terrorist by India and his organisation, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), banned.
Kwatra will also have a key role in building up contacts with players in the next administration that will be formed in the US following the presidential election in November.
With former president Donald Trump expected to make a return, the people said Kwatra will have to hit the ground running to engage with Trump’s team from the Republican party, while maintaining contacts with leading players in the Democratic party.
Kwatra joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1988. Besides serving as foreign secretary (2022-2024) and as the envoy to France (2017-2020) and Nepal (2020-2022), he has had stints in India’s permanent mission to the UN in Geneva, as desk officer at headquarters dealing with the UN, and in the missions in South Africa and Uzbekistan.
He served as deputy chief of mission in the embassy in China, and as a minister (commerce) in the embassy in the US during 2010-2013. He also headed the policy planning and research division Americas division of the external affairs ministry.
