Diplomacy: India’s next ambassador to Bhutan will be Jaideep Sarkar, it was announced by India’s external affairs ministry, yesterday.

Mr Sarkar is currently the Indian ambassador to Israel and is expected to take up his post here shortly, an external affairs press release stated.

He will be replacing current ambassador, Gautam Bambawale who leaves for Pakistan to serve as High Commissioner next month. Ambassador Bambawale has served in Bhutan since August 2014 which means he was here for 16 months.

Mr Sarkar will be India’s 17th ambassador to Bhutan.

He was born in 1963 in western India, near Mumbai.

He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1987 soon after completing a Bachelors in Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology and a Masters in Business Administration from the Indian Institute of Management.

Mr Sarkar has served in the Indian missions in Japan, South Korea, and Bangladesh, holding both political and economic portfolios.

While serving in Japan, Mr Sarkar met his wife, Minako, who is Japanese. The couple have two children, aged 21 and 18, according to an Israeli media report.

He has also served as the external affairs director where his work involved managing India’s relations with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar.

Between 1992-1996, Mr Sarkar worked for the Indian finance ministry dealing with EU member states.

In 2004, he joined the Prime Minister’s Office as a director, and in 2006, he was selected to serve as the Private Secretary to the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, which was followed by his posting to Israel in 2012.

Gyalsten K Dorji

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