Venkatesan Ashok

Ambassador Venkatesan Ashok was born on October 8, 1958. He graduated in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi and joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1982.

Ambassador Ashok has held diplomatic assignments in Hong Kong, Malaysia, China, Austria and Sri Lanka, apart from postings in the Ministry of External Affairs in different capacities. He was Director of External Relations in the Department of Atomic Energy between 1995-1998 following which he was appointed as India’s Alternate Governor and Alternate Permanent Representative in the International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna. He was the Division Chief of Central Europe in the Ministry of External Affairs prior to his assignment as Ambassador of India to the Republic of Zimbabwe between March 2008-June 2011. Ambassador Ashok served as Ambassador of India to the Czech Republic from August 2011 – September 2014. He has taken charge as Consul General of India in San Francisco w.e.f. 21 November 2014.

Ambassador Ashok is married with one son. He speaks Chinese, English and several Indian languages. He has authored a book, Dasavatara, apart from several technical articles. His interests include reading and music.