India to send first ambassador to Iraq since 2005

India's first ambassador to Iraq since 2005 will arrive in Baghdad next month, an Indian diplomat told AFP on Thursday. Suresh K. Reddy, who is currently joint secretary for India's multilateral economic relations with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), will take up his post in the middle of May, Indian embassy charge d'affaires and chief of mission Abdul Majid Padar said.
"He will arrive in the middle of next month," Padar said. India withdrew its ambassador from Iraq in 2005 as the country descended into chaos, with violence claiming tens of thousands of lives in the peak of a sectarian war in 2006 and 2007. Attacks have since lessened, though they remain common, especially in Baghdad.