Dr. Jaishankar’s principal aide Ambule will now head MEA’s China desk

New Delhi, Jun 03: The Joint Secretary in the External Minister's office, Dr. Shilpak Ambule has been appointed as the head of the China Desk in South Block. Sandeep Kumar Bayyapu is slated to take over as Director in the same office.

Dr. Ambule is a 2022 batch IFS officer and has plenty of experience in the Foreign Ministry. He has worked in the office of the Foreign Secretary when External Affairs Minister, Dr. S Jaishankar occupied that position and later went on to become the Foreign Minister.

He would succeed Additional Secretary Naveen Srivastava who has taken over as Ambassador to Nepal.

The job ahead for Dr. Ambule would be a tough one as he has to negotiate with the Chinese to restore the April 2020 status quo ante in East Ladakh.

Ambule also has experience in dealing with China, Korea and Japan. He is currently accompanying Dr. Jaishankar to Czech and Slovakia Republic.