India has selected senior diplomat, Gaurangalal Das who has been handling Indo-US relations as its new ambassador in Taipei.
As per reports, Gaurangalal Das, Joint Secretary (US) in the Ministry of External Affairs will be the next Ambassador of India to Taiwan.
Das who hails from Assam is a 1999 batch Indian Foreign Service officer and an alumnus of St Stephen’s College in Delhi. He did his schooling from Barpeta, Assam and has completed his Higher Secondary from Cotton College.
Das has worked in various capacities in Beijing, Washington and has served as the Deputy Secretary for External Affairs at the Prime Minister’s Office during the tenure of Manmohan Singh. As a Counselor (Political) at the Indian Embassy in Washington DC, he played an important role (Indo-US relationship) during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June 2017 when he met US President Donald Trump.
This development came at a time when strategic negotiations have begun to strengthen diplomatic relations between New Delhi and Taipei. China and the United States have been asserting rights over Taiwan and the South China Sea.
It needs to be mentioned here that India has no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan due to the One-China Policy. However, it has an office in Taipei that is operated under the name of Indo-Taipei Association, now Das will be its new Director-General. He will replace Sreedharan Madhusudan.
Meanwhile, Taiwan also effected a change by appointing Bashan Ger, director-general of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, as Taiwan’s representative to India. Ger will succeed Tien Chung-Kwang.
The Chinese ambassador to India, Sun Weidong, said in a statement on Friday, “We need to respect and accommodate mutual core interests and key concerns, which are non-interference in each other’s internal affairs.”
As reported in The Print, the centre is considering a major diplomatic reshuffle and will soon be sending some of its bright diplomats Vikram Doraiswami, Rudrendra Tandon and Gourangalal Das to Dhaka, Kabul and Taipei, respectively.
