India’s new ambassador to China, Mr. Pradeep Kumar Rawat’s appointment comes in the midst of the country’s eastern Ladakh border standoff with its neighbour. As he takes over the reins, the biggest challenge before him will be the border issue.
The dispute between India and China has been going on for the last 20 months. It is evident that Mr. Rawat will take charge amid the worst phase in both countries’ relations, since the normalisation of ties in the 1980s, with escalation of tensions again along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between both the countries since April 2020 . The issues are still unresolved and thousands of troops of both the sides are deployed in the forward areas. Under such circumstances, Mr. Rawat has a lot on his plate as he takes charge as Indian Ambassador in China.
Indian Masterminds brings to you a short profile of the senior diplomat who is known as an expert on India-China relations, and whose appointment is being keenly watched by the Chinese media.
ABOUT PRADEEP KUMAR RAWAT
Having joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1990, Mr. Rawat opted to learn Mandarin Chinese as his foreign language and served in Hong Kong and Beijing between 1992 and 1997. Now, he speaks Chinese fluently in Mandarin. He returned to Delhi in 1997 and served in East Asia Division for over 3 years. He then served as First Secretary in Indian Mission in Mauritius. He started his second tenure in Beijing in 2003 as Counsellor and ended in 2007 as Deputy Chief of Mission. During this time too, Mr. Rawat was involved in talks on the border disputes with China.
Mr. Rawat returned to the Ministry of External Affairs and worked as Director (East Asia) in East Asia Division between 2007 and 2009, and thereafter he was on deputation to South Asian University for 10 months. He then served as Joint Secretary (East Asia) in the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi, from 2014 to 2017.
NO STRANGER TO BORDER TENSIONS
Mr. Rawat is no stranger to border tensions, having dealt with China in various capacities, including as one of the seniormost officials in New Delhi handling China policy.
Mr. Rawat has also served as Ambassador of India to Indonesia and Timor-Leste from September 2017-December 2020. He is also the Permanent Representative of India to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and responsible for India’s relations with the International Court of Justice, the Permanent Court of Arbitration and other legal institutions in The Hague.
CHINESE MEDIA TALKING ABOUT HIM
The appointment of Mr. Pradeep Kumar Rawat has been widely discussed in the Chinese media. The English daily, Global Times, which is considered to be the mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party of China, has published an article on Mr. Rawat’s appointment. It has been written in this article that he speaks fluent Chinese and also has experience in diplomatic negotiations. The daily has also written that, perhaps, this is a positive sign for China-India relations, but knowing China well does not mean being friendly with China because the behavior of Indian diplomats is inspired by India’s internal politics.
In 2017, Mr. Rawat was involved in the negotiations on behalf of India during the Doklam standoff between China and India.
NOT A SMOOTH ROAD
It is not going to be an easy job for Ambassador Rawat, as the Chinese Foreign Minister has already put forward “three dos and three don’ts” for India-China relations, according to a readout from the Foreign Ministry in Beijing. It said both sides need to “not misunderstand and misjudge” and “build each other up and not wear each other out”. India on its part made it clear that a return to normalcy in relations will not be possible until a restoration of the status quo and a return to peace along the LAC.
