New Delhi

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi is being hailed as India’s longest-serving elected head of the government who gave a new direction to several domestic and international policies, his government has posted the first ever non-Muslim ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

Vipul’s appointment as envoy in Riyadh is a historic shift in India's deliberate strategy. It breaks the established convention since 1948 of sending a Muslim ambassador to the country. In this regard, Vipul is the first non-Muslim Indian diplomat in Saudi Arabia.

His appointment is significant not just from a geopolitical lens but also for the underlying signalling. 

He will take charge from Dr. Suhel Ajaz Khan.

Geopolitically, Saudi Arabia matters to India for reasons that extend far beyond the traditional lens of oil and expatriate labour.

Riyadh today occupies one of the most important positions in India's diplomatic landscape. It is a critical energy partner, a leading political actor in the Gulf, the custodian of Islam's two holiest sites, and an increasingly influential economic hub.

Under its Vision 2030 transformation agenda, Saudi Arabia has emerged as a centre where investment, technology, infrastructure, culture, and geopolitics intersect, creating new opportunities and strategic considerations for countries such as India.

Vipul is a career diplomat from the 1998 batch of the Indian Foreign Service. He has an extensive experience in the Gulf region, having served in Cairo, Colombo, Geneva, and Dubai.

His last appointment was as India's ambassador to Qatar.

Vipul joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1998.  He has served in Indian Missions in Cairo, Colombo, Geneva and Dubai.  In his diplomatic career, he has dealt with diverse areas, including political and commercial relations, development, disarmament, international security and media. 

Vipul worked as Director/Joint Secretary with External Affairs Minister of India between 2014-2017.  Subsequently, he was Consul General of India in Dubai between 2017-20. 

He worked as Joint Secretary (Gulf) in Ministry of External Affairs from 2020-2023.

He has been India’s Ambassador in Qatar since August 2023.

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Vipul, a sports enthusiast, graduated in Mechanical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi in 1994.  He also holds an MBA degree from Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.