Dr. Umarov was appointed as the Ambassador by the President of Kazakhstan on January 4th, 2013. He is expected to help further strengthen the strategic partnership between Kazakhstan and the United States. This critical relationship encompasses such critical priorities as nuclear non-proliferation, energy, trade & investments, agriculture, science & technology, and people to people contacts.
Over his distinguished career in the foreign service, he has held various important posts at the Foreign Ministry and Presidential Administration, including Minister Counselor at the Kazakh Embassy in Washington D.C., Ambassador-at-Large at the Foreign Ministry, and Chief Inspector at the Foreign Policy Center of the Presidential Administration. From 2004-2009, he served as the Ambassador to India. During his tenure there, bilateral relations between Kazakhstan and India grew significantly and a strategic partnership between the two countries was formally established. While in New Delhi, he also was a concurrent Ambassador to Sri Lanka.
From 2009 to January 2013 he was a Deputy Foreign Minister overlooking bilateral relations with the United States, Kazakhstan’s engagement with international organizations and was responsible for raising international awareness about Kazakhstan. He co-chaired the Kazakhstan-United States Strategic Partnership Commission, the main bilateral cooperation mechanism, and served as a Sherpa for Kazakhstan at Nuclear Security Summits in Washington D.C. and Seoul.