Jawed Ashraf appointed India's next envoy to France

Diplomat Jawed Ashraf has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to France, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Wednesday.

Diplomat Jawed Ashraf has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to France, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Wednesday. Ashraf, a 1991-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, is currently serving as Indian High Commissioner to Singapore and is expected to take up the assignment shortly.

A career diplomat, High Commissioner Ashraf joined the IFS in 1991. He served in Frankfurt and Berlin from 1993 to 1999 and he worked in the Americas Division of MEA in New Delhi from 1999 to 2004.

Ashraf completed a three-year tenure as Counsellor at the Embassy in Kathmandu in 2007. From 2007 to 2010, he served as Counsellor and Minister for Political Affairs in Washington DC and then headed the Americas Division in the MEA in New Delhi from 2010 to 2012. Ashraf served as Joint Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office under former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and then Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

His portfolio included External Affairs, Defence, National Security Council, Atomic Energy and Space. Ashraf returned to MEA in January 2016 and was Joint Secretary (Special Projects) until his appointment in Singapore. (ANI)