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List of high commissioners of India to Sri Lanka

High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka
Incumbent
Santosh Jha
since 23 December 2023 (2023-12-23)
Ministry of External Affairs
StyleHis Excellency
Reports toMinister for External Affairs
SeatColombo
AppointerPresident of India
Inaugural holderV. V. Giri
Formation1947
WebsiteHigh Commission of India, Colombo

The High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, formerly the High Commissioner of India to Ceylon, is the chief diplomatic representative of India to Sri Lanka. The high commission is located in Colombo.

History

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India's diplomatic mission to the Dominion of Ceylon was created following India's independence in 1947. Since both nations became part of the Commonwealth of Nations, the diplomatic mission was designated as a high commission, rather than an embassy. V. V. Giri was appointed as the inaugural high commissioner by Governor-General Lord Mountbatten and remained in office until 1951.

Following Ceylon's becoming a republic in 1972, the mission was re-designated to Sri Lanka and the position was renamed to as the High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka.

List

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# Portrait Name Took office Left office Appointer (Head of state) Notes
1 V. V. Giri 1947 1951 Lord Mountbatten Later President of India (1969–1974)
2 K. P. Kesava Menon 1951 1952 Rajendra Prasad
3 Chandulal Chunilal Desai 1953 1954 Later Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha (1967–1973)
4 Birendra Narayan Chakraborty, ICS 1955 1956 Later Governor of Haryana (1967–1976)
5 Y. D. Gundevia, ICS 1957 1960 First term; later Foreign Secretary (1963–1965)
6 B. K. Kapur, ICS 1960 1964
7 Bhim Sen Sachar 1964 1967 Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Formerly Chief Minister of Punjab (1949; 1952–1956);
Governor of Orissa (1956–1957) and Andhra Pradesh (1957–1962)
(5) Y. D. Gundevia, ICS 1967 1969 Second term; formerly Foreign Secretary
8 Yogendra Krishna Puri, IFS 1969 1972 V. V. Giri
9 V. C. Coelho, IFS 1973 1975
10 Gurbachan Singh, IFS 1975 1978 Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed
11 Thomas Abraham, IFS 1978 1982 Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
12 Surbir Jit Singh Chhatwal, IFS 1982 1985 Zail Singh
13 Jyotindra Nath Dixit, IFS 1985 1989[α] Later Foreign Secretary (1991–1994); and
National Security Advisor (2004–2005)
14 Lakhan Lal Mehrotra, IFS 1989 1990 Ramaswamy Venkataraman
15 Nagendra Nath Jha, IFS 1990 1993 Later Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands (2001–2004); and
Lieutenant Governor of Pondicherry (2004)
16 Nareshwar Dayal, IFS 1993 1997 Shankar Dayal Sharma
17 Shivshankar Menon, IFS 1997 2000[β] K. R. Narayanan Later Foreign Secretary (2006–2009); and
National Security Advisor (2010–2014)
18 Gopalkrishna Gandhi, IAS 2000 2002[γ] Formerly Secretary to the President of India (1997–2000); and
later Governor of West Bengal (2004–2009)
19 Nirupem Sen, IFS 2002 2004[δ]
20 Nirupama Rao, IFS 2004[2] 2006[β] A. P. J. Abdul Kalam Later Foreign Secretary (2009–2011)
21 Alok Prasad, IFS 2006[3] 2009 Later Deputy National Security Advisor (2009–2011)
22 Ashok Kantha, IFS 2009[4] 2013[β] Pratibha Patil
23 Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha, IFS 2013[5] 2016[ε] Pranab Mukherjee Later Chief Information Commissioner (2020–2023)
24 Taranjit Singh Sandhu, IFS 2017[6] 2020[ζ]
25 Gopal Bagalay, IFS 2020[7] 2023[η] Ram Nath Kovind
26 Santosh Jha, IFS 2023[8] Incumbent Droupadi Murmu
  1. ^ Appointed as the High Commissioner to Pakistan
  2. ^ a b c Appointed as the Ambassador to China
  3. ^ Appointed as the Ambassador to Norway and Iceland
  4. ^ Appointed as the Permanent Representative to the United Nations
  5. ^ Appointed as the High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
  6. ^ Appointed as the Ambassador to the United States
  7. ^ Appointed as the High Commissioner to Australia

References

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  1. ^ "Former High Commissioners".
  2. ^ "Smt. Nirupama Rao appointed next High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka". mea.gov.in. 7 July 2004.
  3. ^ "Alok Prasad takes over as Indian envoy to Lanka". Hindustan Times. 22 December 2006.
  4. ^ "Shri Ashok K. Kantha to be the next High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka". mea.gov.in. 2 September 2009.
  5. ^ "Shri Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka". mea.gov.in. 22 April 2013.
  6. ^ "Taranjit Singh Sandhu appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to the Sri Lanka". mea.gov.in. 22 September 2016.
  7. ^ "Shri Gopal Baglay has been appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka". mea.gov.in. 1 February 2020.
  8. ^ "Shri Santosh Jha appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka". mea.gov.in. 13 September 2023.