New Delhi: Harsh Vardhan Shringla, India’s present ambassador to the US, was today named to take over as the next Foreign Secretary from end of January 2020.

The Modi government approved Shringla’s appointment as foreign secretary from Jan. 29 next for a two-year tenure.

Shringla, a topper of the 1984 batch of Union Public Service Commission exams, will succeed the current foreign secretary, Vijay Gokhale, who completes his two-year term on Jan. 28.

An alumnus of the New Delhi-based St Stephen’s College and Ajmer-based Mayo College, Shringla has previously served as Ambassador to Thailand and High Commissioner to Bangladesh, before taking over as India’s
Ambassador in Washington D. C.

He was also joint secretary in charge of the Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Maldives before becoming an Indian Ambassador. These appointments has enabled a deeper understanding of India’s neighbourhood to the foreign secretary-designate and will come in handy in his next job, as the Modi government’s major focus is on improving relations with the immediate neighbourhood.

Shringla will supersede three other officers — Ruchi Ghanshyam of the 1982 batch, and Rajeev Chander and Amita Nair, both of the 1983 batch — when he takes over as foreign secretary.