Pavan Kapoor to be India's ambassador to Israel

NEW DELHI: Senior diplomat Pavan Kapoor has been appointed India's ambassador to strategically important Israel, where he will succeed Jaideep Sarkar.

Kapoor, a 1990 batch Indian Foreign Service Officer, is currently India's High Commissioner in Mozambique capital Maputo.

"He is expected to take up his assignment shortly," the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement.

The appointment comes ahead of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's visit to that region from January 16 and also assumes significance in view of a possible visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to India later this year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi may also pay a return visit to Tel Aviv.

India's relations with Israel is on an upswing. President Pranab Mukherjee had visited Tel Aviv in October last year, becoming the first Indian Head of State to visit the Jewish nation.

India is Israel's largest buyer of military hardware. Israel has supplied various weapons systems, missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles over the last few years but the transactions have largely remained behind the curtains.

Kapoor, an MBA from IIM(A), also a has a Master's degree in International Political Economy from the London School of Economics.

In his diplomatic career of two decades, he has served in different capacities in the Indian Missions in Moscow, London, Geneva and Kiev apart from serving in the Ministry of External Affairs and the Prime Minister's Office.

He has also done a stint at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London as Political Adviser on Asia and Europe.