Reddy, who joined Facebook in 2010 as its first employee in India, said she would be relocating to the United States in the next 6-12 months.

“I have also begun to explore new opportunities at Facebook back at Menlo Park,” Reddy said in a Facebook post.

Reddy said she was working closely with William Easton, MD of emerging markets (Asia Pacific), and Dan Neary, vice president of Asia Pacific, to search for her successor.

However, a Facebook spokesperson has issued a statement saying, “As she had planned for some time, Kirthiga Reddy is moving back to the U.S. to work with the teams in Headquarters. We are extremely proud of the work she has done to grow our global sales business in India. During her time in India, Kirthiga was not involved in our Free Basic Services efforts.”

The move comes days after India introduced rules to prevent Internet service providers from having different pricing policies for accessing different parts of the Web, in a setback to Facebook’s plan to roll out a pared-back free Internet service.

The service, earlier known as internet.org, has also run into trouble in other countries that have accused Facebook of infringing the principle of net neutrality – the concept that all websites and data on the Internet be treated equally.

Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg was disappointed with the Indian ruling and said that the company was still “working to break down barriers to connectivity in India and around the world.”

Feature image: Reuters