Riva Das likely to be next Indian envoy in Bangladesh

Indian High Commis-sioner to Bangladesh Harsh Vardhan Shringla may be replaced by Riva Ganguly Das.

Ms Das is currently in charge of Indian Council for Cultural Relations, the external affairs ministry's culture arm.

Indian government is planning several changes in its envoys to a number of key world capitals, reports the Times of India on Wednesday.

"Among them is high commissioner to Bangladesh Harsh V Shringla - who's tipped to be the next ambassador to the United States, replacing Navtej Sarna who is due to retire at the end of this year," said the report.

"Shringla may be replaced by Riva Ganguly Das, currently in charge of MEA's culture arm, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, in Dhaka," the report added.

Mrs. Riva Ganguly Das joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1986.

She is a post graduate in political science from Delhi University. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, she was a lecturer at Delhi University.

She was Head of the Cultural Wing of the Indian High Commission in Dhaka. After that she took over as Director at the United Nations Economic and Social Affairs Division and participated in environmental negotiations, particularly climate change.

Ms Das served as Consul General of India in Shanghai from 2008 to 2012.

After her return from China, she headed the Public Diplomacy Division and later the Latin America & Caribbean Division in the Ministry of External Affairs.

She was ambassador of India to Romania with concurrent accreditation to Albania and Moldova.

Before joining as Director General of Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), she was Consul General of India in New York.

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