Beijing, March 20 China on Friday welcomed the appointment of veteran diplomat Vikram Doraiswami as the new Indian Ambassador, expressing hope that he will make a positive contribution to the sustained improvement of Sino-India ties.
Doraiswami, a 1992-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, is currently serving as the High Commissioner of India to the UK. The 56-year-old diplomat was appointed India's new envoy to China on Thursday. He will succeed Pradeep Kumar Rawat.
He is expected to take up the new assignment shortly.
Reacting to Doraiswami's appointment, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a media briefing on Friday that diplomatic envoys are important bridges for friendly cooperation and relations between countries.
China welcomes the appointment of the new Indian ambassador to China, Vikram Doraiswami, stands ready to provide him with facilitation as he carries out his duty in China, and looks forward to his positive role in promoting the continuous improvement and growth of China-India ties, Lin said, while replying to a question.
"I noted that Ambassador Doraiswami has chosen a Chinese name for himself: Wei Jiameng," Lin said.
The loose translation of the name in Mandarin, according to Chinese scholars, is Wei, a common Chinese surname that phonetically matches "Vi" in Vikram. Long ago, Wei was a powerful state during the Warring States period in Chinese history.
"Jia" means “auspicious or praiseworthy”, “Meng” means “alliance”. Broadly meaning auspicious/praiseworthy ally, the scholars told