Rawat, who spent 31 years in the diplomatic arena, became India's ambassador to China

India has appointed Pradip Kumar Rawat, a Chinese expert who has spent 31 years in the diplomatic field, as India's new ambassador to the People's Republic of China. He is currently India's Ambassador to the Netherlands.

 He is expected to take office soon after returning from the Netherlands, according to the Foreign Ministry. He has been working in the Netherlands since January 2021. He entered the service as an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer in 1990 and is considered an expert on India-China relations. Ambassador Rawat spent most of his diplomatic career handling Beijing from Delhi.

He was the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs in Delhi from 2014 to 2017. He sat at the East Asia Division desk and looked after China. He also served as the joint secretary of the China-backed division and was part of the bilateral negotiating team in 2017. He worked in Hong Kong and Beijing from 1992 to 1997. Returning to India in 1997, he spent another three years in the East Asia Division.

He was then assigned as the first secretary for the Indian mission in Mauritius. In 2003, he was re-appointed to a second term in Beijing. Appointed Deputy Chief of Staff in 2007, he served as Director of the East Asia Division from 2007 to 2009. He served as Indonesia's ambassador to India from September 2017 to 2020.