Hariharan, who had left Amarchand in 2008 and joined Paul Hastings’ Hong Kong office as an associate thereafter, will join Barings by June 2011, according to sources with knowledge of the move.

He will report to GC William Hay and will be responsible for the South Asia region, excluding China, which is handled by the firm’s other deputy GC, Grace Gong.

Hariharan (pictured) graduated from NLSIU Bangalore in 2000 and specialises in corporate, commercial and private equity work.

Paul Hastings Hong Kong office chair Neil Torpey commented: “Kirti has made significant contributions to the development of our practices in India and Southeast Asia. We wish him great success at Barings and look forward to continuing our relationship in the future.”

A Barings spokesperson and Hariharan declined to comment when contacted.

Last month Baring Private Equity Asia raised a $2.46bn fund making it the largest private equity (PE) fund launched in Asia since 2008 and increasing its total funds to more $5bn, which puts it into the league of Asia’s largest PEs, according to Moneycontrol. Barings currently has more than six investments in Indian companies.