Harsh Vardhan Shringla appointed as the new foreign secretary

New Delhi, Dec 23: Harsh Vardhan Shringla, India's Ambassador to the US, has been appointed as the new foreign secretary, according to a Personnel Ministry order issued on Monday.

Shringla is a 1984-batch officer of the Indian Foreign Service (IFS). He will take over the charge of the foreign secretary on January 29 after incumbent Vijay Keshav Gokhale's "two-year term" ends a day before, the order said.

The appointment has been cleared by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to the order by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).

Previously, he served as the High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh and Ambassador to Thailand. Ambassador Shringla served with distinction as High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh from January 2016 to January 2019.

Ambassador Shringla assumed charge as Indian Ambassador to the United States on 9 January 2019 at the age of 55 years as the youngest Ambassador of India to the United States. He presented his credentials to the President of the United States Donald Trump on 11 January 2019.