Santosh Jha

Santosh Jha's career combined economic diplomacy with work on South Asia and international security. In the foreign ministry's Americas division from 2004 to 2007, he handled defense, space, nuclear, and technology cooperation and belonged to the negotiating team for the India–United States civil nuclear agreement. As economic and commercial counsellor in Colombo from 2007 to 2010, he helped develop India's assistance program after Sri Lanka's civil war. ¹

Jha later directed policy planning and helped establish the Raisina Dialogue. He also represented India in the UN Group of Governmental Experts on information security in 2016–17. He served as Washington's deputy chief of mission from July 2017 to June 2019, then as ambassador to Uzbekistan and to the European Union, Belgium, and Luxembourg. He returned to Sri Lanka as high commissioner in December 2023. A history graduate of Delhi University, he speaks Maithili, Hindi, English, and Russian. ¹

While leading the Washington embassy as chargé in January 2019, Jha addressed a Christmas gathering for the Indian diaspora, including members of the Indian Christian community. The event brought together clergy, a church choir, and community representatives. ²