Daijiworld Media Network

New Delhi, Jun 23: Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao is set to be the next Indian ambassador to THE United States, official sources said here Wednesday.

Rao, 60, will be demitting office July 31 at the end of her two-year term.

The government has decided to appoint Rao as the next envoy in Washington, the sources said.

Rao will replace Meera Shankar, who has held the post since 2009.

During Rao's term, the cabinet had amended its rules to ensure that any foreign secretary should serve for a period of two years. She had been given a seven-month extension in December.

An announcement of her new posting is expected from the government soon, along with that of the next foreign secretary.

Rao is an IFS officer of the 1973 batch. She was the first woman spokesperson of the external affairs ministry and was assigned to Sri Lanka as High Commissioner for India in 2004. She was also the country's first woman Ambassador to China. She became India's foreign secretary in 2009.

She has rendered service in various capacities including minister of press affairs in Washington, deputy chief of mission in Moscow, and many more.