Senior diplomat Vikram K. Doraiswami, currently India’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the People’s Republic of China, the Ministry of External Affairs announced on Thursday.
A 1992-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, Doraiswami is expected to assume the post shortly. He will succeed Pradeep Kumar Rawat, who has served as India’s Ambassador to China since March 2022.
Doraiswami brings broad diplomatic experience, with earlier postings in South Korea and Uzbekistan and at India’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York. He has also worked in the Prime Minister’s Office and held senior roles within the Ministry of External Affairs.
He has prior China-related experience from earlier stints at Indian missions in Beijing and Hong Kong and is reported to be proficient in Chinese.
His appointment arrives at a sensitive moment in India-China ties, which have been strained since the Galwan Valley clashes in 2020. In recent months both sides have undertaken cautious measures to stabilise relations through sustained diplomatic engagement.
There have been efforts to rebuild bilateral channels, including resumption of direct flights, easing of visa procedures and promotion of people-to-people exchanges, indicating gradual steps toward restoring normalcy while managing strategic differences.
Observers say Doraiswami’s diplomatic background and familiarity with multilateral and regional issues should help New Delhi navigate a complex relationship that will require balancing competition with cooperation.
