Vikram K Doraiswami appointed next Ambassador to China: All about the 1992 batch, seasoned diplomat

Vikram K Doraiswami (1992 batch, India Foreign Service) has been appointed as India’s next Ambassador to the People's Republic of China, the Ministry of External Affairs announced in a statement. He is presently the  High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom. 

As per the MEA, Doraiswami is expected to take up the assignment shortly, and will succeed Pradeep Kumar Rawat. 

The decision to send the senior diplomat to Beijing comes amid efforts by the two nations to rebuild and normalise bilateral ties. India-China ties came under severe strain due to the border standoff in eastern Ladakh. 

WHO IS VIKRAM DORAISWAMI?

Vikram K Doraiswami joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1992 after working as a journalist for a year. He holds a Master’s degree in History from the University of Delhi.

Following his in-service training in New Delhi from 1992 to 1993, Doraiswami was posted to the Indian High Commission in Hong Kong in May 1994 as Third Secretary. He studied Chinese at the New Asia Yale-in-Asia language school of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. In September 1996, he was posted to the Embassy of India in Beijing, where he served for nearly four years.

Returning to the MEA in 2000, Doraiswami was appointed Deputy Chief of Protocol (Ceremonials). Two years later, he was seconded to the Prime Minister’s Office and later served as Private Secretary to the Prime Minister of India.

In 2006, he was posted to the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations in New York as Political Counsellor. In October 2009, he took charge as India’s Consul General in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Doraiswami returned to the MEA in July 2011 as Head of the Division for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). He also coordinated the Fourth BRICS Summit held in New Delhi in March 2012. From October 2012 to October 2014, he served as Joint Secretary of the Americas Division of the MEA.

He was appointed Ambassador of India to Uzbekistan in October 2014 and became Ambassador to the Republic of Korea in April 2015. After completing this assignment, he returned to MEA headquarters in July 2018 as Head of Division for Bangladesh and Myanmar. In April 2019, he established a new Indo-Pacific Division at the MEA. In December 2019, he was promoted to Additional Secretary, responsible for International Organizations and Summits.

Doraiswami also served as High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh from October 2020 until September 18, 2022. He assumed charge as High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom on September 23, 2022.