New Delhi: The 1990 batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, Dinkar Asthana, presently Ambassador of India to the Republic of Senegal, has been concurrently accredited as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Guinea-Bissau.
"Dinkar Asthana, (IFS:1990), presently Ambassador of India to the Republic of Senegal, has been concurrently accredited as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Guinea-Bissau", the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement on November 28.
Who is Dinkar Asthana?
Dinkar Asthana joined the Indian Foreign Service in August 1990.
Asthana knows Hindi, English, German and rudimentary French.
He has served in the Indian diplomatic missions in Bonn, Bangkok, Colombo and Mexico City.
In New Delhi, Mr. Asthana has served in the Policy Planning, PAI (Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran), Protocol, and Multilateral Economic Relations Divisions.
He was Deputy Director General in the Indian Council for Cultural Relations from March 2014 to September 2015 and Joint Secretary (SAARC, BIMSTEC & Border Connectivity) from October 2015 to January 2016.
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was established on 8 December 1985. The Secretariat of the Association was set up in Kathmandu, Nepal, on 17 January 1987. SAARC has eight member countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka).
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is an international organisation of seven South Asian and Southeast Asian nations. The BIMSTEC member states are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
From February 2016, Dinkar Asthana was Joint Secretary (Development Partnership Administration-II), before taking over as Additional Secretary (Development Partnership Administration) in September 2018.
He was Ambassador of India to Lao PDR from April 2019 till February 2023. He assumed charge as the Ambassador of India to Senegal in April 2023.
He is expected to take up the assignment shortly as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Guinea-Bissau.
