By Surender Bhutani, EuAsiaNews,
Brussels : Jaimani Bhagwati, at present additional secretary at the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi, has been appointed as the new Indian ambassador to the European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg.
The post of ambassador to Belgium normally goes to the economists or specialists of international trade and finance from the economic ministries, but there are few exceptions when a serving foreign service officer has been appointed.
In the past notable exceptions were, Eric Gonsalves, N.P.Jain and C.S. Dasgupta.
The present ambassador to the EU , Mr. Dipak Chaterjee, whose term ends in September was also from the commerce ministry.
However, Bhagwati’s credentials are so powerful that the Indian foreign office made a point to get him appointed to Belgium in face of tremendous pressures from other economic ministries, though he is not yet holding a rank of secretary.
Joining the Indian foreign service in 1976, Bhagwati has twice served as a specialist with the World Bank. This is a record for an foreign service officer. First he served from 1994 to 1999 and second time he was loaned from 2002 to 2005.
During his career he did his doctorate in international finance from an American university and had a stint in the finance ministry for three years in 1999 when he had replaced Santosh Kumar, another outstanding specialist for economic affairs. He also holds a degree of a MBA.
Speaking to this correspondent, Moti V. Lakhi a diamond merchant in Antwerp and an expert on Indo-EU relations said, ” a specialist on economic relations and a career diplomat is a right choice for a country like Belgium which is also the capital of European Union.”
” India needs a high profile in this part of world, both for strengthening the Indo-EU relations as well as to interact with the Indian diaspora in Belgium. The Indian community is delighted to have a bright envoy coming from the foreign office,” added Lakhi.