SANJAY Kumar Verma, 57, who is presently the Indian Ambassador to Japan, has been appointed as the next High Commissioner to Canada, India’s External Affairs Ministry announced on Tuesday.
He is expected to take up his new assignment shortly.
Verma is an officer of the 1988 batch of Indian Foreign Service (IFS). He was stationed at the Consulate General of India, Hong Kong, and at the Embassy of India in China, Vietnam and Turkey, before serving as the Consul General of India in Milan, Italy.
Verma was also the Indian Ambassador to the Republic of Sudan. Following his tenure in Sudan, he served as Joint Secretary (Global Estate Management) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), New Delhi. Prior to his assignment in Japan, he was Additional Secretary (Administration) at the MEA and was also in charge of the Cyber Diplomacy Division.
Verma graduated from Patna University and then pursued a post-graduate degree in Physics at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi.
He is deeply passionate about Information Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Diplomacy, delivery of people-centric services using interactive technologies, guiding and facilitating small businesses and investors, etc.
He reads, writes and speaks Hindi, English and Chinese (Mandarin). He has conversational skills in Bengali as well.
Verma is married with a son and a daughter.