Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the United States of America, an official announcement said.
A statement from the Ministry of External Affairs said Ms Rao, who will succeed Ms Meera Shankar, was expected to take up her new assignment shortly.
Ms Rao will be succeeded as Foreign Secretary by Ranjan Mathai, who is presently Indias Ambassador to France.
She joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1973 and has served in various world capitals, including Washington and Moscow.
She served as the High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka (2004-2006) and thereafter Ambassador of India to China (2006-2009). She had taken over as Foreign Secretary on August 1, 2009.
Ms Rao served in the East Asia Division of the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi from 1984 to 1992, including as Joint Secretary (East Asia). She was a Fellow of the Centre for International Affairs (now the Weatherhead Centre) of Harvard University from 1992-93. She was Minister in the Indian Embassy in Washington from 1993-1995, in charge of Press Affairs.