Meet man, IIM grad who became IFS officer in 1990, set to become India's next high commissioner to Canada, he is...

Seasoned diplomat Dinesh K Patnaik is likely to be appointed as India’s new high commissioner to Canada with both sides looking at rebuilding bilateral ties that came under severe strain following the killing of a Sikh separatist in 2023, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday. Patnaik, a 1990-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, is currently serving as India’s ambassador to Spain.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney on Tuesday agreed to pursue “constructive” steps to restore stability in India-Canada ties including the early return of envoys to each other’s capitals.

Ties between India and Canada plummeted to an all-time low following a diplomatic spat over the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

The people cited above said Patnaik is likely to be succeeded in Spain by Jayant Khobragade. Khobragade is currently serving as India’s ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

In their meeting on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Modi and Carney focused on repairing the frosty bilateral ties.

The India-Canada relations hit rock bottom following then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations in 2023 of a potential Indian link to the killing of Nijjar.

In October last year, India recalled its high commissioner and five other diplomats after Ottawa attempted to link them to the Nijjar case.

India also expelled an equal number of Canadian diplomats.

However, Liberal Party leader Carney’s victory in the parliamentary election in April triggered hopes for reset of the relationship. 

Patnaik has over 30 years of experience working both domestically and overseas. He has worked in the UN, Africa, Europe (West), and foreign publicity departments at the external affairs ministry, as well as in the missions in Geneva, Dhaka, Beijing, and Vienna. 

About Dinesh K Patnaik

Patnaik served as the ambassador to Cambodia from 2012 to 2015, the deputy head of mission at the Indian embassy in Austria from 2009 to 2012, and the envoy to Morocco from 2015 to 2016.

Khobragade was formally appointed India's envoy to Poland in January, but the position was cancelled for a number of reasons.

Khobragade is a member of the Indian Foreign Service's 1995 class and has previously worked at the Indian embassy in Spain.  In addition, he was ambassador to Kyrgyzstan and served in Indian missions in Kazakhstan, Pakistan, and Russia.

He has held positions in the West Africa Division and the Disarmament and International Security Division of the External Affairs Ministry.  From 2017 until 2020, he was also on deputation with the Department of Atomic Energy.  Months after Pakistan rejected his appointment as the charge d'affaires in Islamabad, Khobragade was named ambassador to ASEAN in Jakarta in 2021.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Dinesh K Patnaik is an IIM grad; he completed PGDM in 1990. He has done a Bachelor's degree in Physics from Delhi University.

(With inputs from PTI)