Arun Kumar Singh is new Indian envoy to US

 Ambassador

ARUN Kumar Singh, currently India’s envoy to France, is the next ambassador to the US, the Indian government announced on Sunday.

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

According to his official bio, Singh joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1979 after completing his Masters Degree in Economics from Delhi University and teaching at the university for two years.

His first assignment abroad was at the Embassy of India, Moscow from 1981-1982, where he learnt Russian. Later, he served at the Indian missions in Addis Ababa as Second Secretary from 1982-1985, and in Tokyo as First Secretary from 1985 – 1988. On returning to Delhi at the Headquarters of the Ministry of External Affairs, he served as Deputy Secretary / Director dealing with East Asia and Pakistan Divisions from 1988-1991. From 1991-1993, he headed the Offices of the Foreign Secretary and the External Affairs Minister of India.

Singh served at the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations Office, New York from 1993-1997 as Counsellor and handled multilateral social and economic negotiations. He served in the Indian Mission at Moscow again as Counsellor / Minister from 1997-2000. During his assignment in Delhi from 2000-2005, he served in the capacity of Joint Secretary dealing first with the United Nations Policy, and then Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran Divisions at the Ministry of External Affairs.

Singh served as Ambassador of India to Israel from April 2005 to September, 2008; and then as Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of India, Washington D.C from October 2008 to April 2013. He assumed his new assignment as Ambassador of India to France in April 2013.

Singh speaks Russian and Japanese and has some knowledge of French and Hebrew. He is married to Dr. Maina Chawla Singh; they have one daughter.