NEW DELHI: Former Election Commissioner Arun Goel will be the next Ambassador of India to Croatia. The Indian government announced this on Saturday. Goel is expected to assume charge shortly.It may be recalled that Goel (who assumed charge of EC in November 2022) resigned from the EC days before the announcement of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. His tenure in EC was to end in 2027.Goel, a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the 1985 batch belonging to the Punjab Cadre, did his post-graduation in Development Economics from Churchill College, University of Cambridge, England.He also served as the Secretary in the Ministry of Heavy Industries under the government of India from 2020 to 2022. Prior to that, he served as Secretary in the Ministry of Culture from 2018 to 2019.Diplomatic relations between India and Croatia were established on July 9, 1992, after Croatia gained independence from Yugoslavia. Croatia is represented in India through its embassy in New Delhi and consulates in Mumbia and Kolkata.Croatia opened its Resident Mission in New Delhi in February 1995. The Indian Mission in Zagreb was opened on 28 April 1996, and upgraded to Ambassadorial level in January 1998.India and Croatia had the 11th session of Foreign Office Consultations in Delhi in April this year. The two countries discussed stronger cooperation in trade, defence, science and technology. The two countries also spoke about cooperation in the UN and other multilateral forums and also hoped for the early conclusion of the India-EU FTA.
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