Dinesh Patnaik is next Indian High Commissioner to Canada

Senior diplomat Dinesh K. Patnaik has been named India’s next High Commissioner to Canada, nearly nine months after New Delhi pulled back High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma and other senior officials amid diplomatic tensions.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced the appointment on Thursday, noting that Patnaik, a 1990-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer and currently Ambassador to Spain, will soon assume charge in Ottawa. “Shri Dinesh K Patnaik (IFS:1990), presently Ambassador to the Kingdom of Spain, has been appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to Canada. He is expected to take up the assignment shortly," the MEA said in a statement.

The Odisha-born IFS officer’s appointment comes nearly a year after the exit of former High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma and other senior Indian diplomats, who were withdrawn in October following the Trudeau government’s decision to declare them ‘persons of interest’ in an ongoing probe. Bilateral ties had sharply deteriorated after then–Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged—without evidence—that the Indian government was involved in the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Patnaik brings over three decades of diplomatic experience, having served in key postings across Asia, Africa, and Europe. Patnaik has previously served at India’s missions in Beijing, Dhaka, Vienna, and Geneva. He has also held key leadership roles, including as Ambassador to Morocco and Cambodia, Deputy High Commissioner in London, and Director-General of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).