On Friday, December 22, Santosh Jha, the newly appointed High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, formally presented his credentials to President Ranil Wickremesinghe at the Presidential Secretariat.
Before assuming his role as the High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Jha held the position of the Indian Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg, and the European Union. His diplomatic career also includes serving as the Ambassador of India in Uzbekistan from July 2019 to July 2020. Prior to that, from July 2017 to June 2019, he served as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the Indian Embassy in Washington DC, holding the personal rank of Ambassador.
Jha has an extensive background in diplomatic service, including his tenure as Deputy Chief of Mission at the Indian Embassy in Brussels from 2010 to 2013, where he also served as Charge d’ Affaires from January to September 2012.
Between 2013 and 2017, Jha held various roles in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), overseeing divisions such as Human Resources and Management Affairs, Relations with Western Europe and the European Union, and the Policy Planning Division.
Throughout his career, Jha has served in different capacities at Delhi (2004-2007) and at Indian Missions in Moscow (1995-1998), Vladivostok (1998-2000), New York (2000-2004), and Colombo (2007-2010).
Notably, between 2004 and 2007, as a member of the Americas Division of the MEA, Jha played a crucial role in the negotiating team for the India-US nuclear agreement, contributing significantly to the development of India-US relations in various strategic domains.
Jha also possesses experience in negotiating Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with Sri Lanka and the European Union. He is credited with shaping the development cooperation architecture between India and Sri Lanka following the end of the civil conflict in 2009.
Meanwhile, Gopal Baglay, Jha’s predecessor, has been appointed as India’s High Commissioner to Australia.
