Bambawale new envoy of India to China

India has appointed a new ambassador to China as the recent stand-off at Doklam in western Bhutan has added to the strains in bilateral ties.

Gautam H Bambawale, presently High Commissioner of India to Pakistan, has been appointed as New Delhi's envoy to Beijing, the Ministry of External Affairs has announced.

Bambawale, a 1984 Indian Foreign Service officer, will succeed Vijay Gokhale, who of late completed his term as India's envoy to China and returned to New Delhi to take over as the Secretary (Economic Relations) at the headquarters of the Ministry of External Affairs.

Gokhale is also believed to be a strong contender for the office of the Foreign Secretary if incumbent S Jaishankar does not get a second extension in January next year.

Bambawale was India's envoy to Bhutan before being appointed as the ambassador to Pakistan in January 2016. He served in Hong Kong and Beijing in the early years of his career. He served as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of India in Beijing between 1998 and 2001. Bambawale functioned as the Consul General of India in Guangzhou in China between 2007 and 2009. He also oversaw India's relations with China as the Joint Secretary in charge of East Asia in the Ministry of External Affairs from 2009 to 2014.

He is likely to be succeeded by Ajay Bisaria, currently New Delhi's envoy to Poland, at the High Commission of India in Islamabad.