Mukherjee teams up with Mukerji at India House

London: After the Sens of America, meet the two Mukherjees of London.

The impeccable sense of timing behind the Ministry of External Affairs' move to post a new Indian envoy to Britain gives the Indian diplomatic corps in London two men sharing a surname at the top.

Although High Commissioner Shiv Shankar Mukherjee and his Deputy High Commissioner Asoke Mukerji spell their second names differently, they clearly emulate the example set in the US - giving an Indian twist to the "special relationship" between the US and Britain.

Both Ronen Sen, India's Ambassador in Washington, and Nirupam Sen, the Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, were given a year's extension by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh earlier this year.

Mukherjee assumed charge of India House - as the Indian High Commission is called - on May 9.

Mukerji, who filled in for Kamalesh Sharma after he became Commonwealth Secretary-General, reverts to playing the deputy.

"That's not all," joked a senior diplomat at a reception thrown for Mukherjee at India House on Thursday night. "There's another by the same name, who happens to sit in New Delhi - External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee."