Pradeep Kumar Rawat appointed as Indian ambassador to China

Indian ambassador to China 2021: Diplomat Pradeep Kumar Rawat has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to China. Rawat (Indian Foreign Services, 1990) is presently the Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of the Netherlands and is expected to take up his new assignment shortly. Pradeep Rawat has been serving as the envoy to the Netherlands since January 2021.

Pradeep Kumar Rawat will replace Vikram Misri as India’s next ambassador to China. Misri completed a close to three-year term earlier in December 2021. Pradeep Rawat as India’s next envoy in China will take charge amid the worst phase in relations between the two nations ever since the normalization of ties 1980s.

Pradeep Kumar Rawat, presently Ambassador of India to Netherlands has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to China. He is expected to take up the assignment shortly: Ministry of External Affairs

— ANI (@ANI) December 20, 2021

Who is Pradeep Kumar Rawat?

Indian ambassador to China Pradeep Kumar Rawat has spent the majority of his diplomatic career handling Beijing from New Delhi. From 2014 to 2017, Pradeep Rawat was the Joint Secretary (East Asia). From 2017 to 2020, Rawat was posted as the Indian Ambassador to Indonesia.

Pradeep Rawat joined the Foreign Services in 1990. He chose Mandarin as his foreign language. 

Indian Ambassador to China: Pradeep Rawat familiar with border tensions

The new Indian Ambassador to China, Pradeep Kumar Rawat is no stranger to the border tensions as he has dealt with China in various capacities including as one of the most senior-most officials handling China policy from 2014 to 2017.

Pradeep Rawat first served in Hong Kong and then in Beijing between the year 1992 to 1997. In 2003, Rawat had his second-year term in Beijing, first as Counsellor and then as the Deputy Chief of Mission.

It was a phase that coincided with two breakthroughs on the boundary question with an appointment of Special Representatives in 2003 and an agreement in 2005.

India-China tension and border talks

The crisis between India and China was triggered along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) because of the transgressions by the Chinese Military starting in April 2020. The conflict between India and China is still unresolved and thousands of troops of both sides are still deployed in the areas.

The border talks between the two nations haven’t made discernible progress. The past understandings on the boundary have now been seen in doubt after more than an 18-month long border crisis.

The current Indian Ambassador to China Mr. Misri had also called on the Foreign Minister of China Wang Yi on December 6, 2021, before he returned to New Delhi.