Riyadh- Senior diplomat Vipul, who has extensive diplomatic experience in the Gulf region, has been appointed as India’s next Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued an official announcement regarding the transition on Tuesday, June 2. Vipul, a seasoned IFS officer, is expected to arrive in Riyadh and assume his new responsibilities in the coming weeks.
Two Decades of Diplomatic Excellence
A 1998-batch officer of the Indian Foreign Service (IFS), Vipul brings over two decades of comprehensive experience in international relations and strategic affairs. Throughout his career, he has served in various capacities at Indian missions in Cairo, Colombo, Geneva, and Dubai. His assignments have spanned critical sectors, including political and commercial affairs, international security, development cooperation, disarmament, and media relations.
Between 2014 and 2017, he served as Director and later as Joint Secretary to India’s External Affairs Minister in New Delhi. Following this, he was appointed as the Consul General of India in Dubai, a high-profile position he held until 2020. He then returned to New Delhi to head the crucial Gulf Division at the MEA from 2020 to 2023, where he played a pivotal role in managing and strengthening India’s bilateral ties with West Asian nations. In August 2023, he took charge as India’s Ambassador to Qatar after presenting his credentials to Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
Academic Background
In addition to his distinguished diplomatic career, Vipul holds strong academic credentials. He graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi in 1994 and later earned an MBA from the Indian School of Business (ISB) in Hyderabad.
As New Delhi continues to deepen its economic, strategic, and people-to-people ties with the Gulf, Vipul’s extensive regional expertise is expected to further fortify India’s partnership with Saudi Arabia—one of its most vital regional and economic allies—while effectively addressing the needs of the large Indian expatriate community in the Kingdom.
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