Ahmad Javed appointed as next Ambassador to Saudi Arabia

“He is expected to take up his assignment shortly”, the Ministry of External Affair press release stated.

The relationship between India and Saudi Arabia were little strain after a Saudi diplomat was charged with raping of two Nepalese women in September. Indians form the largest expatriate community in the Kingdom, PTI reported.

The mission in Saudi Arabia is critical for India with presence of a huge diaspora, security situation emanating from conflicts in Yemen and Syria, energy security, investment opportunities and Indo-Saudi counter-terror and defence cooperation. But a shortage of senior Muslim officers in the Indian Foreign Service kept the search on for months to find a replacement for Hamid Ali Rao who retired as the country’s envoy to Saudi Arabia in April 2015. According to official sources, the officer will serve his term before embarking on his new assignment.

After being promoted as Additional Director General (ADG) of Police, Mr. Javed was posted with the state reserve police force and with the Maharashtra Police Headquarters as ADG Establishment, before taking over as Commissioner of Police, Navi Mumbai in 2010.

He has served as Superintendent of Police in Buldhana and Nanded in Maharashtra, before being posted as Deputy Commissioner of Police, Intelligence, in Mumbai.

Javed had the last laugh when the BJP-led government in the state replaced Maria and appointed him as Mumbai police commissioner amid suggestions that Maria was taking too much personal interest in the case.