Swati Vijay Kulkarni appointed as India's next ambassador to Algeria

Swati Vijay Kulkarni is an Indian Foreign Service Officer of 1995 batch. She is presently serving as Additional Secretary in the Ministry.

In a statement, MEA stated, "Dr Swati Vijay Kulkarni (IFS: 1995), presently Additional Secretary in the Ministry, has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria."

"She is expected to take up the assignment shortly," it added.

Notably, diplomatic ties between India and Algeria were established in July 1962. Since then, the relations between two nations have been cordial. Two nations have been supporting each other on issues at bilateral and multilateral levels, according to an Embassy of India in Algeria statement.

Several high-level exchanges of visits by the leaders of the two countries have taken place. The two nations have a Joint Commission Mechanism (JCM) to comprehensively address bilateral cooperation. The JCM between two nations was established by an agreement in 1981 to deal with bilateral issues and issues of common interest.

The 9th JCM was held in Algiers in May 2015, according to an Embassy of India in Algeria statement. It was headed by then-Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman and then-Algeria's Minister of Transport, Boudjema Talai. The fifth Foreign Office Consultation (FOC) between India, and Algeria was held in Algiers in November 2018. (ANI)