Sanjay Wadvani is a career diplomat who joined the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) in July 1987. He has broad experience from several overseas postings, including China, India, the Middle East and South America, as well as a strong background across the key services delivered by British diplomatic posts overseas.
Sanjay was the British Deputy High Commissioner in Eastern India, based in Kolkata, the city of his birth. During his time in India he built strong political and commercial links with several states and did much to encourage low carbon growth. Prior to that, he spent three years as the head of the FCO’s policy team charged with implementing part of the UK’s strategic engagement with China. This included working across a range of global and multilateral issues, close co-ordination across the UK Government, as well as contributing to EU policy.
While based at the British Consulate-General in Guangzhou, he was responsible for the day-to-day management of the Post’s services, including the successful UK consular response to the 2003 SARS outbreak, which had its origins in Guangzhou. Sanjay also ran the trade and investment team which successfully helped many British businesses establish a market in southern China, and assisted major Chinese companies investing in the UK. In Santiago he developed a bilingual on-line search engine aimed at helping UK and Chilean companies trade more easily and targeted opportunities for UK companies in the environmental and healthcare sectors.
Sanjay has a strong corporate experience in the FCO, as one of the driving forces behind a pilot project related to the resourcing of the UK’s posts in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as developing more efficient targeting of programme funds in pursuit of government priorities in the smaller UK posts on that continent.
Sanjay is married to Rochelle Selwyn. His interests include travel, the theatre and cinema, and reading. He is a keen sportsman, though more as a follower these days than a participant, though he still likes to swim and play tennis, and will make an attempt at most sporting disciplines. He was awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours 2007.
| 2013 to 2016 |
Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Turkmenistan, Ashgabat |
| 2009-2013 |
Deputy High Commissioner (Eastern India), Kolkata |
| 2006-2009 |
Head of China (External) policy team in the FCO, London |
| 2002-2005 |
Deputy Consul General and Head of Trade & Investment, British Consulate-General, Guangzhou |
| 1998-2002 |
British Embassy Santiago |
| 1995-1998 |
Africa & Commonwealth Command, FCO London |
| 1991-1994 |
British Embassy Damascus |
| 1989-1991 |
British Embassy Beijing |
| 1987-1988 |
Hong Kong Department, FCO London |