New Delhi: Harsh Kumar Jain has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Philippines, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement on Thursday.

Presently, Jain is posted as India's Ambassador to Ukraine. MEA said that Harsh Kumar Jain is expected to take up the assignment shortly. He joined the Embassy of India in Kyiv on April 5, 2022.

In its statement, the MEA said, "Shri Harsh Kumar Jain (IFS: 1993), presently Ambassador of India to Ukraine, has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of the Philippines."

Harsh Kumar Jain joined the Indian Foreign Service in September 1993. During his diplomatic career, he has served at various positions in the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi, and abroad, according to the Indian Embassy in Kyiv.

Jain has served as India's Ambassador to Kazakhstan from 2014-2017 and Slovakia from 2017-2018. Before this, he served in different capacities at Indian Missions in Moscow, Kyiv, St Petersburg, London and Kathmandu.

He had also served as a Member of the UN Group of Governmental Experts on the Developments in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the context of International Security during 2012-13, according to the Indian Embassy in Kyiv.

At headquarters in Delhi, he served as the Head of the BIMSTEC and SAARC Division, Global Estate Management Division and e-Governance, Information Technology and Cyber Diplomacy Division. He served as desk officer for Afghanistan from 2002-04.

(With Agency Inputs)