Indian Envoy To US Harsh Vardhan Shringla Set To Be The New Foreign Secretary After Vijay Gokhale Retires Next Month

India's Ambassador to the United States Harsh Vardhan Shringla is set to take over as the nation's next Foreign Secretary when the incumbent Vijay Gokhale retires in January 2020, reports Economic Times.

Having served India's interests as a leading diplomat in Bangladesh, Thailand, United States, Vietnam, Israel, South Africa, France and Thailand, Shringla who is a member of the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) since 1984 brings with him a long experience of diplomacy.

The seasoned diplomat holds a command on not just Indian languages and English but also on Nepali, French and Vietnamese. He has pursued courses and also published various papers on Indian diaspora, India-Bangladesh relations, economic diplomacy and conflict prevention.

Meanwhile, the incumbent Gokhale, who has been a member of the IFS since 1981 has served Indian interests extensively in capacities of Foreign Secretary and as a diplomat deployed in various nations including China. It should be noted that he led the efforts on the Doklam front, given at the time of the escalation, he was the nation's Ambassador to China.