<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong><span class="HwtZe" lang="en"><span class="jCAhz ChMk0b"><span class="ryNqvb">Jayant Khobragade has been appointed India's ambassador to Spain, replacing Dinesh K. Patnaik, the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in early July.</span></span></span></strong></h4> <div class="lRu31" dir="ltr"> <div id="ow504">Shri Jayant Khobragade, who is expected to take up his post in Madrid shortly, succeeds Dinesh K. Patnaik, who has been in office since January 2022 and has been appointed India's next High Commissioner to Canada.</div> </div> Khobragade has more than two decades of diplomatic experience. Previously, he served in India's missions in Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, and Spain, and as ambassador to Kyrgyzstan. Within the Ministry, he served as head of the Disarmament and International Security Division and the West Africa Division. He also served on secondment to the Department of Atomic Energy from 2017 to 2020, strengthening India's external engagement in the areas of nuclear energy and security, and until now served as India's envoy to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). It so happens that the Indian Foreign Ministry itself announced last January that Khobragade had been appointed ambassador to Poland in January 2025, but the appointment did not go ahead for undisclosed reasons, according to some Indian media reports. In early July, the Spain-India Council Foundation hosted a farewell dinner for Dinesh K. Patnaik, at which he thanked him for the role he has played in promoting bilateral relations and the interests of Spanish companies and institutions in India. During his term, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez made an official visit to India last May, followed by the subsequent visit to Spain by Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
