Many of those who have worked closely with him describe senior diplomat Pradeep Kumar Rawat as a “low-key” and “affable” diplomat who is well-liked in the Indian Foreign Service (IFS). Known to be an old China hand, Rawat was appointed as the next Indian envoy to the People’s Republic of China on Monday. He is presently India’s ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. He is also the country’s permanent representative to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and responsible for India’s relations with the International Court of Justice, the Permanent Court of Arbitration and other legal institutions in The Hague.
“He is expected to take up the assignment shortly,” said a statement from the ministry of external affairs (MEA).
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Rawat was joint secretary (East Asia) in the MEA when the Doklam border stand-off with China took place in 2017 and he was involved in the negotiations during the early days before he moved on to Indonesia. He served as India’s ambassador to Indonesia and Timor-Leste from September 2017 to December 2020.
Ambassador Rawat, an engineer by training, joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1990. He chose to learn Mandarin Chinese as his foreign language and served in Hong Kong and Beijing between 1992 and 1997. He returned to Delhi in 1997 and served in the MEA’s East Asia Division for over 3 years. He then served as first secretary in the Indian mission in Mauritius.
He started his second tenure in Beijing in 2003 as a counsellor and ended in 2007 as the deputy chief of mission.
Rawat returned to Delhi and worked as director (East Asia) in the East Asia Division between 2007 and 2009 and thereafter he was on deputation to South Asian University for 10 months. He then served as joint secretary (East Asia) in the ministry of external affairs from 2014 to 2017, when the Doklam standoff happened.
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A diplomat serving in a Western country confirmed that Rawat is an experienced China hand. He has had experience in Hong Kong, Mainland and Taiwan, besides being in the East Asia division in various capacities including as joint secretary.
He is married to Shruti Rawat and they have two daughters.
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