India appoints Dinesh Trivedi as next high commissioner to Bangladesh
Trivedi will replace Pranay Verma who will move to Brussels as the Indian ambassador to the EU.
Dinesh Trivedi has been appointed as the next high commissioner of India to Bangladesh.
He is expected to take up his new assignment in Dhaka shortly, according to a media statement issued by India's Ministry of External Affairs today (27 April).
Trivedi will replace Pranay Verma who will move to Brussels as the Indian ambassador to the European Union.
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Trivedi, 75, served as Union Minister for Railways and Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare during the UPA regime as a member of the Trinamool Congress. He resigned from the party in 2021 and later joined the BJP, according to Hindustan Times.
The appointment is seen as a signal from the Modi government that it is open to appointing political leaders as envoys to key countries, rather than limiting such roles to Indian Foreign Service officers.
India's political appointments to the post of ambassadors have so far been largely confined to the US. There are also rare instances of such appointments in the UK and for strategic reasons in Nepal and the Seychelles.
Although a Gujarati, Trivedi's cultural and political ties to West Bengal, a state inextricably linked to Bangladesh, are seen to have influenced his choice for his diplomatic role.
