Last Updated on April 10, 2026 6:46 pm by INDIAN AWAAZ
Our Correspondents / New Delhi / Dhaka
Arif Mohammed Khan is likely to be the next Indian high commissioner to Bangladesh after incumbent envoy Pranay Verma was appointed ambassador of India to Belgium and the European Union.
Verma is expected to take up the new assignment shortly, according to a press release issued by India’s ministry of external affairs on Friday.
With Verma’s posting now finalised, attention has turned to who will succeed him in Dhaka. Sources say AM Khan in the race of the post.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader recently served as governor of Bihar from 2025 to 2026. Before that, he was governor of Kerala from 2019 to 2025. He has also served as a Union minister and handled several portfolios, including civil aviation.
If appointed, Khan’s selection would mark the first time in several years that the post of Indian high commissioner to Bangladesh goes to a politician rather than a career diplomat. However, till Friday, there was no official confirmation from Indian government sources regarding the appointment.
Verma took charge as the Indian high commissioner to Bangladesh on September 21, 2022, and served during a period when bilateral ties came under strain amid political changes in Bangladesh following the July 2024 uprising.
A career diplomat, Verma joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1994 and has served in Hong Kong, San Francisco, Beijing, Kathmandu, Washington DC and Hanoi. Before his Dhaka posting, he was India’s ambassador to Vietnam from July 2019.