New Delhi: India’s High Commissioner to UK Navtej Sarna has been appointed as ambassador to the US. This will be a high-profile posting for Sarna where he will face the task of engaging with a new administration in Washington following the November 8 Presidential poll.
Before his posting in London in January, Sarna, an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer of the 1980 batch, was serving as secretary (West) in the ministry of external affairs. He takes over from Arun Singh, who is due for retirement.
The 59-year-old diplomat was the spokesperson of the MEA between 2002 and 2008.
“He is expected to take up the assignment shortly,” the external affairs ministry said.
Sarna has written many fiction and non-fiction books, with the most recent being ‘Second Thoughts: On Books, Authors and the Writerly Life’ released last year. He has also served as India’s ambassador to Israel from 2008 to 2012.
For two years from August 2012, Sarna worked as additional secretary in charge of international organisations in the MEA.