The Centre on Thursday appointed diplomat Vikas Swarup secretary of Overseas Indian Affairs, the Department of Personnel and Training said in an order. He will replace Sanjiv Arora on August 1. Arora took over the post in February.

Swarup is a 1986 batch Indian Foreign Service official, and is serving as India’s High Commissioner to Canada at present. He is the author of award-winning book Q&A, which was adapted into the Oscar-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire. The book bagged the Exclusive Books Boeke Prize 2006 and the Paris Book Fair’s Reader’s Prize.

In his diplomatic career he has been posted in several countries, including Turkey, the United States, Ethiopia, the United Kingdom and South Africa. He served as Consul General of India in Osaka-Kobe in Japan from 2009 to 2013.