New High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, Santosh Jha on Friday (Dec.22) presented his credentials to President Ranil Wickremesinghe.The presentation of credentials took place at the Presidential Secretariat.Prior to his new assignment, senior Indian diplomat Jha served as the Indian Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and the European Union.Jha was the Ambassador of India in Uzbekistan from July 2019 to July 2020.
Earlier, from July 2017 to June 2019, he served as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the Indian Embassy in Washington DC with a personal rank of Ambassador.He also served at the Indian Embassy in Brussels earlier from 2010 to 2013, when he was the Deputy Chief of Mission.
During this time, Jha also had the distinction of serving as Charge d Affaires from January to September 2012.Between 2013 and 2017, Jha headed several divisions in the MEA including the Division for Human Resources and Management Affairs, the Division for Relations with Western Europe and the European Union, Policy Planning DivisionIn addition to the above, 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).Between 2004 and 2007, assigned to the Americas Division of the MEA, Jha served as a member of the negotiating team for the India-US nuclear agreement and was closely associated with the development of India-US relations, in particular, in the fields of space, nuclear, defence and high technology.Jha has the experience of serving as a member of negotiating teams for Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with Sri Lanka and the European Union respectively.
He is also credited with helping erect the architecture for development cooperation between India and Sri Lanka following the end of civil conflict in that country in 2009.Meanwhile, Jhas predecessor, senior Indian diplomat Gopal Baglay has been appointed as Indias High Commissioner to Australia.