Who is Ajit Vinayak Gupte — India's next envoy to Germany

New Delhi: Ajit Vinayak Gupte, a senior diplomat, has been appointed as India's next ambassador to Germany, as announced by the Ministry of External Affairs on Monday. He is currently serving as India's envoy in Egypt. The appointment comes ahead of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's scheduled visit to India later this month.

"Ajit Vinayak Gupte (IFS: 1991), presently Ambassador of India to Egypt, has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Federal Republic of Germany. He is expected to take up the assignment shortly," the MEA said in a statement.

Who is Ajit Vinayak Gupte?

Gupte joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1991 and has studied Chinese (Mandarin). He has handled China in various capacities, including Under Secretary (China) from 1995 to 1998 and during his postings in Hong Kong from 1998 to 2000, and Beijing from 2000 to 2004.  He also had extensive exposure to India’s neighbourhood and served in Dhaka, Bangladesh from 2004 to 2008 as First Secretary/Counsellor.

Gupte had also served in ICCR as Deputy Director General to promote India’s cultural diplomacy and ‘soft power’ from 2008 to 2010. Thereafter, he was Deputy Chief of Mission in Embassy of India, Berlin from 2010 to 2014. During this period, he was also Charge d’ Affaires for 9 months. He held the post of Joint Secretary (Haj) for an year and was Joint Secretary (Development Partnership Administration), dealing with Lines of Credit for all countries, including India’s neighbouring countries and Africa from 2015 - 2017.

Gupte served as India's Ambassador to Denmark from September 2017 to March 2021. He assumed the role of Ambassador to the Arab Republic of Egypt on March 10, 2021.

He is married to Priti Gupte, and they have a daughter.