While S Jaishankar (left) will take over in Washington from Nirupama Rao; Ashok Kantha will replace Jaishankar in Beijing.

New Delhi, September 13
S Jaishankar, Ambassador to China, has been named as the country’s next envoy to the US. Jaishankar, who was in strong contention for the post of the Foreign Secretary, will be replaced in Beijing by Ashok Kantha, currently Secretary (East) in the External Affairs Ministry.

Jaishankar will take over in Washington from Nirupama Rao. The new envoys to the US and China were announced ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to the two countries in September and October, respectively.

Indications are that Jaishankar, whose father K Subramanyam was a leading strategic affairs analyst, will take charge of his new assignment probably in December after the PM’s visit to China in October.

It is understood that the PM has personally chosen Jaishankar for the envoy’s job in Washington considering the fact that the ambassadorship to the US is the second most important assignment in the Foreign Office, next only to that of the Foreign Secretary.

His appointment comes at a time when Indo-US ties seem to be floundering on account of a host of issues, including India’s Nuclear Liability Law and the Iran imbroglio. Jaishankar is well aware of the intricacies of India-US relations, having served as the Joint Secretary (Americas) in the ministry from 2004-2007 when the nuclear deal was being negotiated. Even as the envoy in Beijing, Jaishankar played a critical role in thorny negotiations with the Chinese to end the PLA incursion in the Daulat Beg Oldie Sector in April-May.Kantha is also an ace diplomat, who was previously the Indian high Commissioner to Sri Lanka. He is the son-in-law of former External Affairs Minister and senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha. S Raghavan, Special Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, has already been named India’s new Ambassador to Russia.