Arun Goel appointed as India's new Ambassador to Croatia

New Delhi: The Government of India has announced the appointment of Arun Goel as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Croatia.

Goel is expected to take up the assignment shortly, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a press release.

Goel, a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the 1985 batch belonging to the Punjab Cadre, did his post-graduation in Development Economics from Churchill College, University of Cambridge, England.


Notably, Arun Goel on November 21, 2022, had assumed the charge as the new Election Commissioner (EC) of India.

He also served as the Secretary in the Ministry of Heavy Industries under the government of India from 2020 to 2022.

Before that, he served as Secretary in the Ministry of Culture from 2018 to 2019.

Diplomatic relations between India and Croatia were established on July 9, 1992. Croatia opened its Resident Mission in New Delhi in February 1995. The Indian Mission in Zagreb was opened on 28 April 1996, and upgraded to Ambassadorial level in January 1998, according to the official website of the Embassy of India in Croatia.

From the Croatian side, there were a series of high-level visits. Then President Stjepan Mesic paid a state visit to India in November 2002. After a gap, high-level visits resumed with the then Croatian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Marija Pejcinovic Buric visiting India in October 2018.