The Director General of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) Riva Ganguly Das has been named as the new High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh.
Das, a 1986 batch officer of the Indian Foreign Service (IFS), is expected to take up her new assignment shortly, according to a statement issued by the External Affairs Ministry, said a report published on Thursday by NDTV.
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The Indian envoy will succeed Harsh Vardhan Shringla, who has been appointed as the new Indian Ambassador to the US.
According to the report, the appointment of Das assumes significance as Bangladesh is seen as a crucial neighbour under New Delhi‘s Neighbourhood First Policy.
Das is a postgraduate in political science from Delhi University. She also taught at Delhi University prior to joining as an IFS officer.
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Das was first appointed in Spain after which she joined the Ministry headquarters in New Delhi, dealing with external publicity, Nepal and passport/visa work.
She has experience of serving as the head of the cultural wing of the Indian High Commission in Dhaka.
After serving in Dhaka, she took over as the Director at the UN Economic and Social Affairs Division and participated in environmental negotiations, particularly climate change.
Das was also served as the Deputy Chief of Mission in the Embassy of India in The Hague, Netherlands.
Apart from serving as the Alternate Permanent Representative of India to the Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons at The Hague, Das also served as Consul General of India in Shanghai from 2008 to 2012.
After her return from China, Das headed the Public Diplomacy Division and later the Latin America and Caribbean Division in the Ministry of External Affairs.
Das was also the Ambassador of India to Romania with concurrent accreditation to Albania and Moldova.
Prior to her joining as the Director General of ICCR, Das was Consul General of India in New York.