Appointments: ICWA's deputy DG to serve as India's next ambassador to Iraq

New Delhi: Soumendu Bagchi, currently a deputy director general at the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), has been appointed as the country's next envoy to Iraq, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Wednesday.

Bagchi is a 1993-batch officer of the Indian Foreign Service (IFS).

India and Iraq have throughout enjoyed enduring political, economic and cultural ties, according to an earlier statement on India-Iraq ties, available on the MEA website.

"Soumendu Bagchi (IFS: 1993), presently DDG, ICWA, has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Iraq,' the MEA said in a statement.

He is expected to take up the assignment shortly.

The ICWA is based at Delhi's Sapru House.

The MEA in another statement said Abhilasha Joshi, presently additional secretary in the ministry, has been appointed as India's next ambassador to the Republic of Chile.

A 1995-batch IFS officer, Joshi is expected to take up the assignment shortly, it said.