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 Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. The 56-year-old diplomat was Thursday appointed as India's new envoy to China. 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 that envoys are an important bridge for fostering friendly and cooperative relations between nations.
China welcomes India’s new ambassador and will provide all facilitation to take up his post in China and looks forward to his positive role in improving India-China relations, Lin said, while replying to a question on Doraiswami’s appointment.
“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” meaning “auspicious or praiseworthy”, “Meng” meaning “ally”. Broadly meaning auspicious/praiseworthy ally, the scholars told