Lindy Cameron, former UK cybersecurity chief, appointed British High Commissioner to India

Lindy Cameron, the former chief executive of the United Kingdom’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), has been appointed the new British High Commissioner to India.

States within the Commonwealth of Nations exchange high commissioners as their most senior diplomatic envoys rather than ambassadors, although the roles are largely equivalent.

Cameron’s departure from the NCSC was first reported by Recorded Future News in December, when it was said she would be taking up an unspecified diplomatic posting. The government announced on Thursday that she would be heading to New Delhi.

Cameron’s permanent replacement as the chief executive of the NCSC has not yet been announced.

The British High Commissioner to India is a major diplomatic position. Cameron enters the office as Britain and India continue to negotiate a new Free Trade Agreement, and just ahead of the Indian general election, which will run from April 19 until June 1.

A Comprehensive Strategic Partnership signed by the British and Indian leaders in 2021 set out a range of areas for collaboration, including in exchanging technology and in ensuring the security of the Indo-Pacific region.

As part of her role at NCSC, Cameron had visited India to meet “academics, businesses and government representatives” and spoke about the two countries sharing opportunities and threats in cyberspace.

Indian officials have warned about Chinese hackers targeting electricity distribution centers in the country. Late last month, researchers uncovered an espionage campaign targeting Indian government agencies and the country’s energy industry. They did not attribute the campaign to a specific threat actor.

China and India — both nuclear powers, and the two countries with the largest populations in the world — have been engaging in a border conflict since 2020, when there were brief skirmishes in the Himalayan region of Ladakh. At least four Chinese soldiers and 20 Indian soldiers were killed in the fighting.