Former foreign secretary Shailendra Kumar Singh is the leading contender for the post of India's ambassador to the United States, sources said on Tuesday.
His nearest rival is Dr Karan Singh, who once held the post for seven months, the sources said.
The mission in Washington, DC is without an ambassador after Lalit Mansingh returned to India on April 30.
S K Singh, a career diplomat, has been ambassador to Lebanon, Austria, Jordan, Cyprus, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
He served as foreign secretary from 1989 to 1990 and has represented India at the United Nations on the Economic and Social Council.
He also represented the country at the Human Rights Commission, UN Industrial Development Organisation and the UN Conference on Trade and Development.
For three years, he was on the International Atomic Energy Agency board of governors in Vienna.
S K Singh's chances of being appointed envoy to the US brightened after the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government assumed power, according to the sources.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the former foreign secretary are friends who often met at the Indian Habitat Centre in New Delhi, the sources added.
Dr Singh is president of the Centre while S K Singh is an institutional member.
S K Singh is also close to External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh.
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