India's Ambassador to Nepal, Shyam Saran, was on Thursday named the next foreign secretary, superseding at least 10 officers senior to him.

A 1970-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, 57-year-old Saran's name was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, an official announcement said.

He succeeds Shashank, who retires on July 31. Saran's tenure will be for a little over two years till September 2006.

The most senior Indian Foreign Service officer after Shashank, who is from the 1966 batch, is J C Sharma, secretary in the external affairs ministry in charge of passports, consular services and diaspora.

He retires along with Shashank.

A seasoned diplomat, Saran has headed Indian missions in Mauritius from 1992 to 1997, Myanmar (1997 to 2001) and Indonesia (August 2001 to October 2002). He took over as ambassador to Nepal in October 2002.

Saran has also served in Hong Kong, Beijing, Geneva and Tokyo besides undergoing a fellowship in the UN Disarmament Programme in 1979.

He was the first Indian head of mission to be called to New Delhi earlier this month for consultations by External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh after assuming office.