Mr. Santosh Jha

High Commissioner

  High Commissioner Santosh Jha arrived in Colombo as High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka on 20 December 2023.

  Prior to coming to Colombo, he was Ambassador of India to the European Union, Belgium & Luxembourg from July 2020 to December 2023; and Ambassador of India to Uzbekistan from July 2019 to July 2020. Earlier, from July 2017 to June 2019, he served as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the Indian Embassy in Washington DC with a personal rank of Ambassador.

  High Commissioner Jha also had the pleasure of serving at the Indian High Commission in Colombo from 2007 to 2010, when he was a Counsellor handling work related to commercial and economic matters.  During this period, in particular, he helped build the architecture of India-Sri Lanka development cooperation following the end of civil conflict in Sri Lanka.

  High Commissioner Jha has served in different capacities in New Delhi. Between 2004 to 2007, he served in the Americas Division of Ministry of External Affairs during which he handled cooperation related to defence, space, nuclear and other high technology sectors. He was also a member of the Indian negotiating team for the historic India-US nuclear deal. Later, between 2013 and 2017, High Commissioner Jha headed several Divisions in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). From July 2013 to September 2014, he headed the MEA Division for Human Resources and Management Affairs. From October 2014 to April 2015, he headed the MEA Division for relations with Western Europe and the European Union and from April 2015 to July 2017, he headed the Ministry of External Affairs’ Policy Planning Division.

  As head of the Policy Planning Division, High Commissioner Jha was specifically assigned to reform and rebuild this Division as an advisory body capable of responding to challenges emanating from India’s growing engagements.  During this time, he was also closely associated with formulation of key Indian foreign policy initiatives and for establishment of a number of strategic dialogue forums, most notably the globally reputed RAISINA Dialogue in New Delhi. During this period, Ambassador Jha also handled matters related to Counter Terrorism and Cyber Security, and in 2016-17, represented India at the meeting of UN Group of Governmental Experts (UNGGE) on Development in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the context of International Security. 

  High Commissioner Jha has also served in Moscow (1995-1998); Vladivostok (1998-2000); New York (2000-2004); and in Brussels (2010-2013).

  High Commissioner Jha holds a Master's Degree in History from the University of Delhi. He speaks Maithili, Hindi, English and Russian.

  He is married to Smt. Tanuja Jha and has a daughter and a son.