India appoints new ambassador to Turkey

ANKARA-Anadolu Agency

India has appointed Sanjay Kumar Panda as its new envoy to Turkey, the Ministry of External Affairs said on March 3.

Panda, a career diplomat, is presently consulate general of India in San Francisco, the U.S. He is expected to take up the assignment shortly in Ankara, the ministry said in a statement.

He replaces Sanjay Bhattacharyya, who completed his term in January and took over as secretary in India’s Foreign Ministry.

While it will be the first assignment as an ambassador for Panda, he has earlier served in various diplomatic positions in Belgium, France, Malaysia, Japan, Jordan, and Seychelles.

He also served headed the Indian Ocean Region Division in the Ministry of External Affairs. The division looks after India’s maritime neighbors such as Sri Lanka, Maldives, Mauritius, Madagascar, Comoros, and Seychelles.

A postgraduate in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Delhi, Panda hails from the eastern province of Odisha.