New Delhi: As New Delhi and Washington chart a new course in diplomatic ties, former Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra has reportedly been nominated as the next Indian Ambassador to the United States. Kwatra’s likely appointment in Washington will come just months ahead of the US electing a new president.
The nomination will be followed by procedural formalities in the US after which Kwatra will be taking over in Washington DC, according to multiple reports. The post had been lying vacant since January when Taranjit Singh Sandhu retired. Kwatra ended his term as the Foreign Secretary on July 15 and was succeeded by Vikram Misri.
The new Ambassador has been appointed at a time when India-US relations are going through a churn as the US has expressed its displeasure over India's ties with Russia. Despite the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, New Delhi has continued to maintain close relations with Moscow as was evident during the recent annual bilateral summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, both the countries have been growing closer, including under the previous Trump and current Biden administration.
An IFS officer of the 1988 batch, Kwatra was scheduled to retire as Foreign Secretary on April 30 this year, which has now been extended till October 31. The appointment of Kwatra will be a departure from the current Modi dispensation's practice of appointing a serving IFS officer as ambassador to the US.
The last time India appointed a retired diplomat as ambassador to the US was in 2011 when Nirupama Rao was named for the coveted post following her superannuation as Foreign Secretary. She was succeeded by current External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Arun Kumar Singh, Navtej Sarna, Harsh Vardhan Shringla and Taranjit Singh Sandhu who were all serving IFS officers.
The US remains India's most important strategic partner, as obvious from the recently launched initiative on critical and emerging technology which is focused on removing barriers in technology and defense industrial cooperation.
