Mr. Santosh Jha presented his credentials to Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on 22 December at a ceremony held at the Presidential Secretariat and assumed charge as the High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka.
A senior Indian diplomat, High Commissioner Jha was India’s Ambassador to the European Union, Belgium & Luxembourg before taking up his assignment in Colombo.
He had earlier served as Ambassador of India to Uzbekistan from 2019-2020, and as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the Indian Embassy in Washington DC from 2017-2019.
He has held key positions in the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi, including as head of Division for Human Resources and Management Affairs, Division for relations with Western Europe and the European Union, and the Policy Planning Division.
High Commissioner Jha had also served in Colombo from 2007-2010 as Counsellor at the High Commission, handling work related to commercial and economic matters. During this period, in particular, he was pivotal in building the architecture of India-Sri Lanka development cooperation.
He is married to Smt. Tanuja Jha and has a daughter and a son.