Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran on Friday said the Indian government has sought the Croatian government's approval to send a new ambassador.
Saran clarified that the development had nothing to with Ambassador Aniel Mathrani's interview about the Volcker probe to India Today magazine.
Mathrani, in the interview, said Natwar was responsible on securing oil deals for his relatives.
"We have already taken the approval of the Government of Croatia to have a new ambassador in place of Aniel Mathrani who was transferred sometime back. The man will be back sooner or later," he said.
Rajiv Misra, who is currently on assignment with the World Bank, is likely to take over from Mathrani.
Saran, who was addressing a press conference on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's forthcoming visit to Russia, had initially refused to take questions relating to Mathrani. "Mathrani is out of bounds," Navtej Sarna told.
Mathrani, according to his colleagues in the Ministry of External Affairs, claimed that he had no clue that his off-the-record conversation was being tapped by India Today's Associate Editor Saurabh Shukla.
"He spoke in good faith and the journalist concerned played dirty by tapping the conversation," said one MEA official, now posted in USA.