Mr. Ashok K. Kantha joined as the High Commissioner of India in Sri Lanka on November 9, 2009. Before coming to Sri Lanka, he was India’s High Commissioner to Malaysia from April 2007 to November 2009.

    During the period 2003-2007, as the Head of the East Asia Division of the Ministry of External Affairs, he played a significant role in shaping India’s relations with the countries of the region, including China and Japan.  Earlier, he served as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu, Nepal from 1997-2000 and as the Consul General of India to Hong Kong and Macau from 2000 to 2003.

    Before 1997, Mr. Kantha worked in different capacities at Indian Missions in Singapore, China and the USA; and in the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi dealing with India’s relations with China, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran.  In the mid-1980s, he served as Special Assistant to Chairman, Policy Planning Committee.

    Mr. Ashok K. Kantha was born on 14 May 1955. After graduating in History from Patna University in 1975, he briefly worked as an Executive with the State Bank of India. He joined the Indian Foreign Service in July 1977 and studied Chinese Language at Nanyang University, Singapore from 1979 to 1981.

    He is married to Sharmila, and they have one son.