India names Shri Santosh Jha as next High Commissioner to Sri Lanka

COLOMBO (News 1st); India has named Shri Santosh Jha, presently Ambassador of India to Belgium, as the next High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka.

He is expected to take up the assignment shortly, said the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.

Santosh Jha is to take the place of Gopal Baglay in Colombo who is to be posted to Canberra, Australia.

Prior to being appointed as the Indian Ambassador to Brussels, Santosh Jha was Ambassador of India in Uzbekistan from July 2019 to July 2020. 

Earlier, from July 2017 to June 2019, he served as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the Indian Embassy in Washington DC with a personal rank of Ambassador.

Between 2013 and 2017, Ambassador Jha headed several Divisions in the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

From July 2013 to September 2014, he headed the MEA Division for Human Resources and Management Affairs. From October 2014 to April 2015, he headed the MEA Division for relations with Western Europe and the European Union.

From April 2015 to July 2017, he headed MEA's Policy Planning Division, in which capacity he helped rebuild the Division into an institution capable of of responding to India's growing global engagements. During this time, he was also closely associated with formulation of key Indian foreign policy initiatives and for establishment of a number of strategic dialogue forums, most notably the globally reputed RAISINA Dialogue in New Delhi. During this period, Ambassador Jha also handled matters related to Counter Terrorism and Cyber Security, and in 2016-17, represented India at the meeting of UN Group of Governmental Experts (UNGGE) on Development in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the context of International Security.

In addition to the above, Ambassador Jha has served in different capacities at Delhi (2004-2007) and at Indian Missions in Moscow (1995-1998), Vladivostok (1998-2000), New York (2000-2004), and Colombo (2007-2010). Between 2004 and 2007, assigned to the Americas Division of the MEA, Ambassador Jha served as a member of the negotiating team for the India-US nuclear agreement and was closely associated with the development of India-US relations, in particular, in the fields of space, nuclear, defence and high technology.Ambassador Jha has the experience of serving as a member of negotiating teams for Free Trade Agreements (FTA)with Sri Lanka and the European Union respectively. He is also credited with helpingerect the architecture for development cooperation between India and Sri Lanka following the end of civil conflict in that country in 2009.

Ambassador Jha holds a Master's Degree in History from the University of Delhi. He speaks English, Russian, Hindi and Maithili.