India’s High Commissioner to the UK, Navtej Singh Sarna, has been appointed the new Ambassador to the US. He will succeed the current envoy Arun Singh. A 1980-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, Sarna will take over from Arun Kumar Singh, who has retired from the service.

• “Navtej Singh Sarna has been appointed as the next ambassador of India to the United State of America. He is expected to take up the assignment shortly,” external affairs ministry said.

• Sarna, who has authored several books, fiction as well as non-fiction, had succeeded Ranjan Mathai as India’s envoy to the UK.

• The 59-year-old career diplomat served as the ministry’s spokesperson from 2002 to 2008, the longest anyone has served the MEA in that capacity. He then headed for Tel Aviv, serving as India’s ambassador to Israel till 2012. For two years from August 2012, Sarna served as additional secretary in-charge of international organisations.

• He will also play an instrumental role in taking forward the bilateral ties between India and the US, both in strategic and economic terms. India and US defence ties are at an all-time high, while two-way trade reached $110 billion last year.Both sides are now aiming at $500 billion in goods and services trade. Sarna also served as India’s Ambassador to Israel from 2008-2012.