India has appointed Vikram K. Doraiswami as the next Ambassador to China. File
| Photo Credit: Special arrangement

China on Friday (March 20, 2026) welcomed the appointment of veteran diplomat Vikram Doraiswami as the new Indian Ambassador, expressing hope that he will make a positive contribution to the sustained improvement of Sino-India ties.

Mr. Doraiswami, a 1992-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, is currently serving as the Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. The 56-year-old diplomat was on Thursday (March 19, 2026) appointed as India’s new envoy to China. He will succeed Pradeep Kumar Rawat.

He is expected to take up the new assignment shortly.

Reacting to Mr. Doraiswami’s appointment, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a media briefing that envoys are an important bridge for fostering friendly and cooperative relations between nations. China welcomes India’s new ambassador and will provide all facilitation to take up his post in China and looks forward to his positive role in improving India-China relations, Mr. Lin said, while replying to a question on Mr. Doraiswami’s appointment.

“I noted that Ambassador Doraiswami has chosen a Chinese name for himself: Wei Jiameng,” he said.

The loose translation of the name in Mandarin, according to Chinese scholars, is Wei, a common Chinese surname that phonetically matches “Vi” in Vikram. Long ago, Wei was a powerful State during the Warring States period in Chinese history.

“Jia” meaning “auspicious or praiseworthy”, “Meng” meaning “ally”. Broadly meaning auspicious/praiseworthy ally, the scholars told PTI.

All put together, it can be said as “one who forms an excellent alliance”, according to one Chinese scholar, which carries diplomatic significance in the present context of India-China relations. Mr.Lin said China hopes that after assuming his duties, Mr. Doraiswami will make positive contributions to the sustained improvement and development of China-India ties.

Mr. Doraiswami’s appointment evoked considerable interest in the Chinese official media and the Chinese strategic community. A Mandarin speaker, he served both in Hong Kong and Beijing diplomatic missions in his early career as a diplomat. He served as Third Secretary in Hong Kong in his early career, where he earned an elective diploma in Chinese from the New Asia Yale-in-Asia Language School before moving to Beijing in September 1996 for a four-year tenure.

The Chinese official media has given a positive build-up to Mr. Doraiswami’s appointment.

Global Times, part of the People’s Daily publication group of the ruling Communist Party, has featured his appointment on the front page, with the headline ‘India appoints seasoned “China hand” as next Ambassador’.

“The position of Ambassador to China is considered one of the most critical positions within India’s diplomatic service… Doraiswami’s stints working in China have endowed him with a more rational and comprehensive understanding of the country,” Lin Minwang, deputy director of the Centre for South Asian Studies at Fudan University, told the Global Times.

Mr. Doraiswami is a heavyweight “China hand” among India’s senior diplomats, possessing a profound understanding of China-India relations and China’s national conditions, Qian Feng, director of the Research Department at Tsinghua University’s National Strategy Institute, told the daily.

According to him, the latest appointment underscores the great importance New Delhi attaches to its ties with Beijing, and embodies a strong emphasis on both professionalism and pragmatism in stabilising and advancing ties, which is a positive signal.

By dispatching this senior diplomat to Beijing, India seeks to engage more precisely and effectively with China at the frontline level, thereby facilitating the management of complex and sensitive bilateral issues, managing differences and broadening cooperation, Qian said.

He said outgoing Ambassador Rawat made efforts to help China-India relations steadily emerge from their earlier low point.

Like Mr. Doraiswami, several Indian diplomats, including Mr. Rawat, studied Chinese and served in the Indian diplomatic missions in China. Mr. Doraiswami’s appointment comes amid efforts by the two sides to rebuild relations that came under severe strain following the over four-year military standoff in eastern Ladakh in April, 2020.

In the last few months, India and China have stepped up efforts to stabilise their relations, seeking a reset after the 2020 military standoff in the Galwan Valley plunged ties to the lowest point in decades.

The military stand-off effectively ended in October 2024.

Published – March 20, 2026 05:33 pm IST

Glasgow:

The Glasgow Gurdwara, where an Indian envoy was stopped from entering by Khalistani extremists, today issued a statement strongly condemning the incident. Hitting out at the “disorderly behaviour”, the Gurdwara said that it was open to people from all communities and backgrounds.

“An incident occurred on 29 September 2023 at Glasgow Gurdwara where the Indian High Commissioner was on a personal visit, facilitated by a member of Scottish Parliament. Certain unknown individuals from outside the Glasgow area attempted to disrupt this visit, following which the visiting party decided to leave the premises,” the statement by Glasgow Gurdwara Guru Granth Sahib Sikh Sabha stated.

The Gurdwara said that the “unruly individuals” continued to disturb the congregation even after the Indian envoy had left.

“Glasgow Gurdwara strongly condemns such disorderly behaviour to disrupt the peaceful proceedings of a Sikh place of worship,” the statement added.

Indian High Commissioner, Vikram Doraiswami, was stopped from entering the Gurdwara by Khalistani extremists on Saturday.

A purported video going viral on social media shows a man preventing the Indian High Commissioner to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, from entering the gurdwara in Glasgow on Friday. Two men are also seen attempting to open the door of the High Commissioner’s car in the parking area. The car is then seen leaving the premises of Glasgow Gurudwara Saheb.

India has raised the “disgraceful” incident with the UK government. Junior UK foreign minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan acknowledged the video going viral on social media and said she was “concerned”.

“The safety and security of foreign diplomats is of utmost importance and our places of worship in the UK must be open to all,” she said on X, formerly Twitter.

The incident comes amid the snowballing diplomatic row between India and Canada, which was triggered by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accusing “Indian government agents” of involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June.