Verma new Indian HC to Bangladesh

Pranay Verma has been appointed as Indian High Commissioner (HC) to Bangladesh, said the Indian External Affairs Ministry.
Mr Verma, a 1994-batch IFS officer, will replace Vikram Doraiswami, who is likely to be posted as Indian HC to the UK.
Verma, now the Indian ambassador to Vietnam, had earlier held diplomatic assignments in Hong Kong, San Francisco, Beijing, Kathmandu and Washington D.C.
He had also served as director-general of the East Asia division at the Indian external affairs ministry. Before that, he handled India's nuclear diplomacy as director-general for external relations at the department of atomic energy.
Verma, who is known as a China expert and holds a master's in Chinese from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California, said Indian daily The Telegraph.
The daily also said that the timing of Verma's appointment - he is expected to take charge before Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to India in September - is significant as Bangladesh will hold its next general election in December 2023.
The prospective appointment coming as a surprise on both sides of the border as he has no experience of working in Bangladesh or dealing in affairs related to India's most important eastern neighbour, said the Telegraph report.
It is not mandatory to have experience in dealing with a country before assuming the position of ambassador or high commissioner. But, barring a few exceptions, the external affairs ministry appoints officers to top positions in important countries with which they are familiar, the report added.
According to this report, 'appointing people without prior experience to key missions seems to be the hallmark of foreign minister S. Jaishankar.… Naveen Srivastava, who was appointed ambassador to Nepal in May, never worked directly in the Himalayan country. Similarly, Sibi George, who never had any direct assignment anywhere in East Asia and is known more as an Arab expert, is being sent to Japan."
mirmostafiz@yahoo.com