• The Ministry of External Affairs, in a statement, announced that Vinay Kumar has been appointed India’s next ambassador to Russia.
• The Ministry of External Affairs also announced a host of new ambassadors of India appointed to different countries.
• All the new appointees are expected to take up their new assignments shortly, said the Ministry of External Affairs.

AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA

• 1992 batch Indian Foreign Service officer Vinay Kumar, who is presently the ambassador to Myanmar, has been named the next ambassador to Russia.

AMBASSADOR TO CUBA

• The 1997 batch of Indian Foreign Service officer T. Armstrong Changsan has been appointed the next ambassador of India to Cuba. Armstrong Changsan is currently posted as a Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs.

AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ

• The 1993 batch of Indian Foreign Service officer SoumenduBagchi has been appointed the next ambassador of SoumenduBagchi is currently the DDG, Indian Council for World Affairs(ICWA).

AMBASSADOR TO CHILE

• 1995 batch Indian Foreign Service officer MsAbhilasha Joshi has been appointed the next Indian ambassador to the South American country Chile. MsAbhilasha Joshi is currently an Additional Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AMBASSADOR AND HIGH COMMISSIONER

• Every sovereign country appoints a senior diplomat to a foreign country to represent and safeguard its national interest. The senior diplomat is either called an Ambassador or a High Commissioner.

HIGH COMMISSIONER

• When a country which is a member of the Commonwealth appoints a senior diplomat to another commonwealth country, then the senior diplomat will be called as High Commissioner. For example, a senior Indian diplomat to Britain will be called as High Commissioner.
• The Commonwealth is an association of Independent countries who were once part of the British empire. At present 56 countries are members of the commonwealth.

AMBASSADOR

• Senior diplomat appointed to a country that is not a commonwealth member is called Ambassador. For e.g. India’s ambassador to Russia, the United States of America, France, etc. These countries are not members of the Commonwealth.