Moscow, Aug 03: Co-Chairman of the India-Russia joint working group on terrorism and former KGB pointman in Delhi Vyacheslav Ivanovich Trubnikov has been appointed as the new Russian ambassador to India.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a decree published today, appointed 60-year-old Trubnikov to the post. He replaces Alexander Kadakin.
A graduate of prestigious soviet diplomatic academy-Institute of International Relations, Trubnikov is fluent at Hindi and English.
He was posted in New Delhi as the pointman of the ex-Soviet KGB's foreign intelligence branch in 1970's under the cover of a journalist.
A career spy, Trubnikov rose to the post of director of Russia's foreign spying agency - Sluzhba Vneshnoi Razvedki (SVR) in 1995.
An expert India hand, Trubnikov's appointment assumes significance in the bilateral context as he is versed with security threats faced by New Delhi from its neighbourhood.
Bureau Report
