"There is so much more WhatsApp can do for India, and we are excited to continue advancing India's digital transformation," WhatsApp CEO Will Cathcart said in a statement.
Digital
Desk: Abhijit Bose, WhatsApp's India CEO, and Rajiv
Aggarwal, Meta India's Director Public Policy, have both resigned from their
positions. Shivnath Thukral, the Director of WhatsApp Public Policy in India,
has been promoted to the position of Director, Public Policy for all Meta
brands in India.
This comes less than a week after Meta announced its
largest-ever layoffs, laying off approximately 11,000 people worldwide. Ajit
Mohan, Meta's head of operations in India, resigned earlier this month. Soon
after, it was announced that he would be joining Snap as president,
Asia-Pacific.
"I'd like to thank
Abhijit Bose for his tremendous contributions as WhatsApp's first Head of
Operations in India." His entrepreneurial spirit aided our team in
launching new services that benefited millions of people and businesses.
"There is so much more WhatsApp can do for India, and we are excited to
continue advancing India's digital transformation," WhatsApp CEO Will
Cathcart said in a statement. It has been learned that a replacement for Bose
will be hired soon.
According to the
company, Aggarwal has decided to leave "to pursue another
opportunity." "He has played an important role in leading our
policy-led initiatives in areas such as user safety, privacy, and scaling up
programmes like GOAL to drive digital inclusion in the country over the last
year." "He has also led proactive engagement with critical policy and
regulatory stakeholders," according to the note.
Thukral, a former
television journalist, has been a member of the Public Policy team since 2017,
with a recent focus on WhatsApp. Thukral will lead policy development
initiatives across Meta apps - Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp - in India,
according to Manish Chopra, Director, Partnerships, India.
"We remain committed to our users in India and will
continue to make meaningful contributions to the regulatory process that will
enable everyone to realise the full potential of India's digital economy,"
said Chopra, who had previously been named the interim head of Meta in India
following Mohan's departure.
WhatsApp
has over 563 million users in India, its largest market.
