Venkat Raman –
India’s next High Commissioner Designate to New Zealand Sanjiv Kohli is keen to engage with the host government and the Indian Diaspora to lift India-New Zealand relations to the next higher level.
Speaking to Indian Newslink on Tuesday from his office in New Delhi, he said that there were promising prospects for more constructive engagement between the two countries.
“There are several exciting opportunities for cooperation and involvement which will be mutually beneficial for people of India and New Zealand. Our government is working with the New Zealand government to promote better understanding and working relationship. I look forward to improved relations in political, economic, educational, technological and other areas,” he said.
Career Diplomat
A career diplomat from the 1988 batch of the reputed Indian Foreign Service (IFS), Mr Kohli is a graduate in Engineering. Following his selection to the IFS, he gained fluency in Arabic and served in a number of Indian diplomatic missions in Cairo, Riyadh, Doha, Oman, Kuwait and Iraq apart from tours of duty in Russia (Moscow) and in South Block, New Delhi (where External Affairs Ministry is located). He is currently serving as Joint Secretary (West Africa).
Mr Kohli is married to Ruma and the couple has two daughters and a son. Their eldest daughter Sakshi is married and employed at Goldman Sachs in Bangalore. Their second daughter Richa is likely to accompany them to New Zealand. Their son Aditya is pursuing his graduate degree in Business Studies in Delhi.
This is the first posting for Kohli as Head of Mission. He is expected to arrive in Wellington by the end of February.
