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Senior diplomat Pradeep Kumar Rawat has been appointed as India's next Ambassador to China, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Monday.
Rawat, an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer of the 1990 batch and regarded as a China expert, will succeed Vikram Misri.
'Rawat, presently Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of the Netherlands has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the People's Republic Of China. He is expected to take up the assignment shortly,' the MEA said in a brief statement.
His appointment comes in the midst of the lingering border row between the two countries in eastern Ladakh.
Rawat, who speaks fluent Mandarin, had served as Joint Secretary in the East Asia division in the headquarters of the MEA in Delhi from 2014 to 2017.
As the joint secretary of the division handling issues relating to China, Rawat was part of the team that was involved in negotiations following the Doklam standoff between the two countries in 2017.
Rawat had served in Hong Kong and Beijing between 1992 and 1997.
He returned to Delhi in 1997 and served in East Asia Division for over 3 years.
He then served as the first secretary in the Indian mission in Mauritius.
He started his second tenure in Beijing in 2003 as a counsellor and it ended in 2007 as deputy chief of mission.
Rawat also worked as Director (East Asia) in the East Asia division between 2007 and 2009.
He served as ambassador of India to Indonesia and Timor-Leste from September 2017 to December 2020.