Arun Kumar Singh is new Indian envoy to US

New Delhi, March 8
Arun Kumar Singh, currently India's envoy to France, has been appointed the next ambassador to the US, the government announced on Sunday.

Singh, an Indian Foreign Service officer of the 1979 batch, is expected to take up his assignment shortly, the statement said.

He replaces S. Jaishankar, who was appointed foreign secretary on January 28.

Singh had earlier served as deputy chief of mission in Washington from October 2008 to April 2013. Prior to that, he was India's ambassador to Israel. He became ambassador to France in April 2013.

He has also served at the important Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran division at the external affairs ministry.

Community leader Benoy Thomas on Arun Singh

I interacted with Ambassador Singh regularly during his five-year tenure as DCM from 2008 to 2013, during which he served along with three Ambassadors, Ronen Sen, Meera Shankar and Nirupama Rao. At the farewell get-together of Ambassador Singh, held at the embassy, I had an opportunity to speak. In my remarks, I had fervently hoped and predicted that he will come back to Washington as an ambassador. I am delighted that my prediction has come true.

Ambassador Singh represents the best of Indian Foreign Service. As a diplomat, he is very skillful and erudite. I have no doubt that Ambassador Singh is the right person to take the US-India relationship to the next level, after taking over the baton from Ambassador Jaishankar.  With Jaishankar as Foreign Secretary and Ambassador Singh as India's top diplomat in Washington, I have no doubt, the relationship is set to soar to new heights.

During his DCM days, he cultivated true friendships with a number of Indian American community leaders. Whenever I reached out to him as the president of the National Council of Asian Indian Associations, he was there for us.