Former Indian envoy to China Gautam Bambawale has joined Ola, one of the world’s largest ride hailing cab companies as a senior advisor on International affairs.
The Ola group is now hoping to expand into other nations such as Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom (UK).
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Bambawale who joined on January 6, is expected to play a key role in the expansion plans of the company.
“Ola has driven transformational growth for India’s mobility ecosystem and created deep social and economic impact in its journey of just under a decade,” Bambawale was quoted as saying in a statement by Ola.
“As the company builds on its endeavour to build mobility, not just for India but for consumers globally, Ola’s philosophy of collaborating with local governments and communities will only help it build more relevant and sustainable solutions for users and drivers. I am excited to join Bhavish and the Ola team in this journey of becoming an institution that is globally respected and is a hallmark of collaboration.”
The retired officer of the Indian Foreign Service is the second officer from the service to join the private sector. Current External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar was the first one, who joined the Tata group as the President of the Global corporate affairs department in 2018. He quit in 2019 after being appointed as the External Affairs Minister.
Bambawale has served as the Indian Ambassador to China and Bhutan and also as the High Commissioner of India to Pakistan.
He has also served in Hong Kong and Guangzhou and handled the East Asian desk at the head quarters where he dealt with India’s relations with Japan, South Korea, Mongolia and China.
Bhavish Aggarwal, the CEO of Ola said: “His experience in international relations and diplomacy from his three decades of service to the nation will play an invaluable role in Ola’s next phase of growth across global market”.
“In our mission to build mobility for a billion people, we also have the opportunity to build a global brand that every Indian can be proud of. I look forward to working closely with Gautam as we build Ola into a globally respected mobility company,” he added.