NAVTEJ SARNA MAY BE INDIA’S NEXT US ENVOY

NEW DELHIA: India’s high commissioner to the United Kingdom (UK) Navtej Sarna is likely to be the country’s ambassador to the United States of America, reports said on Thursday.

A 1980-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, Sarna will take over from Arun Kumar Singh who retires August end.

It is also learnt that Taranjit Sandhu, who is India’s deputy chief of mission in Washington, is headed to Sri Lanka and India’s envoy to the island nation YK Sinha could take Sarna’s place in the UK.

The reshuffle of diplomats could see Santosh Jha, who is a close aide of foreign secretary S Jaishankar and heads the policy planning division of the ministry of external affairs, take over from Sandhu in Washington.

Sarna, who has several books, fiction as well as nonfiction, to his credit, had succeeded Ranjan Mathai as India’s envoy to the United Kingdom.

The 59-year-old career diplomat served as the ministry’s spokesperson from 2002 to 2008, the longest anyone has served the ministry of external affairs (MEA) in that capacity.

He then headed for Tel Aviv, serving as India’s ambassador to Israel till 2012.

For two years from August 2012, Sarna served as additional secretary in-charge of international organisations.