New Delhi [India], July 1 (ANI): Virander Kumar Paul, presently High Commissioner of India to Kenya has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Turkey.

"Virander Kumar Paul (IFS: 1991), presently High Commissioner of India to Kenya has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Turkiye," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.

Paul is expected to take up the assignment shortly.

Dr. Virander Paul joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1991.

Before taking up his present assignment as High Commissioner of India to Kenya, he was Additional Secretary (BIMSTEC, SAARCNalanda) in the Ministry of External Affairs, dealing with multilateral engagement in India's neighbourhood.

Prior to that, he served as Joint Secretary at Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service (formerly Foreign Service Institute), a premier institution of India for the training of Indian and foreign diplomats.

He has earlier served as Ambassador/Deputy Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations in Geneva (2016-2019), Deputy High Commissioner of India in London (2013-2016), Minister (Press) at the Indian Embassy in Washington D.C. (2010-2013), Director in the Prime Minister's Office during 2007-2010, and Counsellor Political at the Indian Embassy in Moscow from 2003-2007.

He also held diplomatic positions in the Indian Missions in Almaty, Vladivostok, Rome and St. Petersburg. During his other previous stints at the Ministry of External Affairs Headquarters, he served in Europe East and Americas Divisions.

He holds a medical degree from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. He speaks Punjabi, Hindi and English and Russian. (ANI)