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Govt shuffles key diplomatic pack

NEW DELHI: Arun Singh , India’s envoy to Paris, will take over the ambassadorial assignment in Washington DC, replacing S Jaishankar, who was appointed foreign secretary on January 28. Although the appointment, earlier reported by TOI, has not yet been formally announced, it’s likely to sail through.An IFS officer of the 1979 batch, Singh has already spent five years in Washington as deputy chief of mission (which is an ambassadorial position in MEA). Prior to that he was India’s ambassador to Israel. When in the head office, Singh had managed the tough Iran-Pakistan-Afghanistan desk between August 2001 and April 2005, which was the challenging times in Afghanistan and Pakistan.Like Jaishankar, Singh has built contacts in Washington, which will come in handy as PM Narendra Modi is deeply invested in that bilateral relationship. But before taking up the assignment in Washington—likely in May, Singh will manage Modi’s visit to Paris, scheduled for April.With Jaishankar taking over as foreign secretary, a number of key changes have been made in ambassadorial posts in different capitals. Mohan Kumar, currently ambassador in Bahrain, is likely to take over as ambassador to Paris, a place where he served as deputy not long ago.Navdeep Suri, ambassador in Egypt will be India’s next high commissioner to Australia, a significant move. Suri, also a high-achiever, is expected to steer one of India’s more important relationships.Sanjay Bhattacharya, currently joint secretary in charge of southeast Asia, will move to Egypt as ambassador. This is an important position because Egypt is a pivotal power in the Arab world.Vishnu Prakash, ambassador in Seoul, will be moving to Canada as high commissioner soon, as Modi is expected to visit Ottawa in April. Both the capitals are important for the NDA government. Korea is likely to witness a Modi visit in May after his China’s tour. Modi is giving special attention to the Korean relationship as he considers the country as a partner in his ‘Make in India’ plans. Canada’s relationship is important in the fields of agriculture, energy, technology and education. Moreover, Ottawa reached out to Modi when the US shunned him.Vikram Doraiswami, who has just taken over as ambassador in Uzbekistan, is likely to be sent to Korea. Doraiswami, a Chinese speaker, has only recently moved to Tashkent and will be shifted soon.Posts in other key capitals like Tokyo, Pakistan, London, Moscow and Dhaka are likely to fall vacant towards the end of the year. But with these appointments, the Modi government is finally moving to clear a backlog of almost 40 ambassadorial appointments that had been held up in the past few months.