Vikram Doraiswami Appointed As New Ambassador To China | Here's What To Know About Him

Last Updated:March 19, 2026, 23:05 IST

Doraiswami's appointment came as India and China have stepped up efforts to stabilise their relations, seeking a reset after the 2020 military standoff in the Galwan Valley.

Indian High Commissioner to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, has been appointed as the new ambassador to China, the Ministry of External Affairs announced on Thursday. He will succeed the current Indian envoy in Beijing, Pradeep Kumar Rawat.

The MEA said Doraiswami is expected to take up the new assignment shortly. The appointment of Doraiswami, a 1992-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, comes mid efforts by the two sides to rebuild ties that came under severe strain after the military standoff in eastern Ladakh in 2020.

In the last few months, India and China have stepped up efforts to stabilise their relations, seeking a reset after the 2020 military standoff in the Galwan Valley plunged ties to the lowest point in decades. The military stand-off effectively ended in October 2024 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Kazan, Russia.

Who Is Vikram Doraiswami?

An alumnus of Delhi University with a master’s degree in history, Doraiswami worked as a journalist for a year before joining the Indian Foreign Service. He has a Masters’ Degree in History from the University of Delhi.

Following his in-service training in New Delhi in 1992, Doraiswami was posted to Hong Kong in May 1994 as Third Secretary. There, he earned an elective diploma in Chinese from the New Asia Yale-in-Asia Language School before moving to Beijing in September 1996 for a four-year tenure.

Upon returning to the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi in 2000, Doraiswami was appointed as Deputy Chief of Protocol (Ceremonials). After two years, he was attached to the Prime Minister’s Office in 2002. He later served as Private Secretary to the Prime Minister of India.

Doraiswami also served at the Indian Permanent UN Mission in New York and at the Consulate General in Johannesburg. In July 2011, he returned to the MEA in New Delhi, where he helmed the division for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

From October 2012 to October 2014, Doraiswami was joint secretary of the Americas Division of the MEA. He became Ambassador of India to Uzbekistan in October 2014, before being assigned as India’s envoy to the Republic of Korea in April 2015.

On completion of this assignment, he returned to the MEA headquarters in July 2018, serving as head of the Bangladesh and Myanmar division. In December, he became the additional secretary responsible for International Organisations and Summits.

Before assuming the charge as the envoy to the UK, Doraiswami served as the High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh from October 2020 to 18 September 2022. He assumed charge as the High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom on September 23, 2022.

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