Pranay Verma likely to be new Indian envoy

Pranay Kumar Verma, currently the Indian envoy to Vietnam, will be the next Indian high commissioner in Dhaka, a diplomatic source has confirmed The Daily Star.

Vikram Kumar Doraiswami, the incumbent Indian envoy, will be appointed as the country's high commissioner to the UK, reported Indian media outlet WION yesterday.

Verma may take up his new assignment after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to India, scheduled for September 5-7, the source said.

Verma served as the director-general of the East Asia Division at the Indian Ministry of External Affairs. He was also the director-general for external relations at the Department of Atomic Energy.

Earlier, there were media reports that India's incumbent deputy chief of mission in the US, Sudhakar Dalela, was expected to be its next high commissioner to Bangladesh. He was, however, appointed as the Indian envoy to Bhutan.

Bangladesh-India ties have seen an upswing, from connectivity to culture.

During the tenure of High Commissioner Doraiswami, high profile visits to Bangladeshi by Indian President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi took place last year as part of the celebrations of ties, centenary of the birth of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the golden jubilee of Bangladesh's independence.

Indian diplomacy is preparing new faces in the key capitals this month. The changes are underway following the appointment of new Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra, who took charges in May succeeding Harsh Vardhan Shringla.

The Hindu newspaper reported that India's Ambassador to Bhutan Ruchira Khamboj is taking over as the country's permanent representative to the UN.

Indian Ambassador to Japan Sanjay Kumar Verma is set to take over as the next high commissioner to Canada. Two senior officers, including one who has been dealing with Quad negotiations, and an ambassador in West Asia, are being considered for the ambassador to Tokyo.

Quad is a strategic security dialogue between Australia, India, Japan, and the United States.