Senior diplomat Gopal Baglay, presently High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, has been appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to Australia. He is expected to take up the assignment shortly.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs made the announcement on Wednesday.
After joining the Indian Foreign Service in 1992, Mr Baglay has held several significant roles within the Ministry of External Affairs. These include serving as Deputy Secretary for Central Europe, Deputy Secretary and Director for the United Nations-Economic & Social Affairs division in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in New Delhi.
He has also served as Director for External Publicity, Director for Pakistan, Afghanistan & Iran affairs, Director in the External Affairs Minister’s Office, Joint Secretary handling matters related to Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran in the Ministry of External Affairs, and as Joint Secretary for External Publicity and Spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs.
Baglay took over the assignment in Sri Lanka in May 2020.
57-year old Mr Baglay was born in Mathura (Uttar Pradesh). He has an M.Sc. (Special) degree in Chemistry from Lucknow University. He reportedly knows Ukrainian and speaks Russian, apart from English, Hindi, Urdu and Nepali.