India has named diplomat Ajay Bisaria as its next high commissioner to Pakistan. He is currently the ambassador to Poland and Lithuania and formerly served as private secretary to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, when he took on economic, defence and foreign policy issues.

The 1987-batch IFS officer will succeed Gautam Bambawale (who has been posted to China) as India’s envoy to Pakistan and his appointment comes at a time when India’s relations with its neighbour have been at a low for almost two years in the wake of terror strikes. “He is expected to take up his assignment shortly,” the external affairs ministry said in a statement on Wednesday night, NDTV reported.

The diplomat, who has a Bachelor’s degree in economics from St Stephen’s College (1980-83) in Delhi, earned Master’s degrees in business administration from IIM-Kolkata (1983-85) and in public policy from Princeton University (2008-09). He also worked as a Soviet internal affairs specialist in the months leading up to the break-up of the USSR.