Diplomat Satyangal Pandey is likely to become India’s next charge d’affaires at the Indian High Commission in Pakistan, news agency PTI reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Pandey, a 2008-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, is currently the Indian Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka. If appointed, he will assume the diplomatic mission in Pakistan at a time when bilateral relations between New Delhi and Islamabad are still limited.
If Pandey takes charge, he will succeed Geetika Srivastava, a 2005-batch Indian Foreign Service officer who was appointed as India’s charge d’affaires in Islamabad in August 2023.
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Change of leadership in the Indian Mission
The proposed appointment represents a routine change of leadership at the Indian diplomatic mission in Pakistan. As Chargé d’Affairs, Pandey will head the Indian High Commission in Islamabad in the High Commissioner’s absence.
Geetika Srivastava, who is expected to succeed Pandey, was India’s first female charge d’affaires in Pakistan.
Also Read: Geetika Srivastava is the first woman Chargé d’Affaires of the Indian Mission in Pakistan
Pandey is currently working in Colombo as Deputy High Commissioner of India.
Diplomatic relations remain low
India and Pakistan have continued to maintain diplomatic relations at the charge d’affaires level since Pakistan downgraded its relations with India in 2019.
The move followed India’s decision to withdraw Jammu and Kashmir’s special status in August that year. Since then, the two countries have not restored the exchange of high commissioners, with their diplomatic missions in Islamabad and New Delhi. Chargés d’Affaires will head diplomatic missions after 2019.
As a result, the Indian High Commission in Islamabad and the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi continue to work under the charge d’affaires rather than as full High Commissioners.
