India names Gupte, Singla as envoys to Germany, France

India has appointed new ambassadors to Germany and France, two of Europe’s biggest economic powerhouses.

While Ajit Vinayak Gupte will be India’s ambassador to Germany, Sanjeev Kumar Singla will be its envoy in France, the ministry of external affairs said in a press release on Monday.

Gupte and Singla are expected to take up their roles shortly.

The appointments come at a crucial time, particularly as India advances its ties with Germany and France in the renewable energy sectors and looks forward to developing an aeronautics cluster with France’s help.

Senior diplomat Gupte of the 1991 batch of Indian Foreign Service is currently India’s ambassador to Egypt.

Gupte will replace current ambassador to Germany Harish Parvathaneni, who has been nominated to serve as permanent representative of India to the United Nations since 1 September.

Singla of the 1997 IFS batch is currently Indian ambassador to Israel and is expected to take up his new assignment shortly.

He will replace career diplomat Jawed Ashraf.

Some unconfirmed reports suggest Ashraf is being considered for the deputy national security advisor’s (NSA) role.

Ashraf reportedly led negotiations in the DRDO-Safran 110 KN fighter jet engine program, aimed at developing an engine for India’s AMCA MkII aircraft by 2035.