Shashank, a career diplomat, will take over as foreign secretary on Tuesday at a time when India's ties with Pakistan are showing signs of thaw and those with the United States, China, Russia and Europe are on an upswing.

A 1966-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, Shashank succeeds Kanwal Sibal, who retired on Sunday after an 18-month stint.

Engaging his immediate attention will be Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's visit to Nigeria for the Commonwealth Summit starting from December 4.

Shashank, who has served in the Indian high commission in Islamabad from 1982 to 1986, will also find himself in the midst of preparatory work leading up to the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Summit in the Pakistan capital in the first week of January.

During his long diplomatic career, Shashank has held postings in a host of countries including Denmark, South Korea, Libya, Egypt, Vietnam, Brazil and in India's Permanent Mission at the UN in New York

He also served in various capacities in the Ministry of External Affairs here and was secretary (economic relations) and secretary (Europe, Africa and America).