Professional networking site LinkedIn, which claims to have 3.4 million members from India, has appointed Hari V Krishnan as country manager. We had heard of Krishnan’s appointment from sources last week, but were unable to confirm the development from Krishnan, despite several attempts. Krishnan joins from MySpace India, where he was Country Manager; earlier this year, MySpace, which was operating in India with a skeletal staff, announced that it was taking another look at its operations in several countries, including India.

Rumors have been strong about MySpace India having shut shop, but execs, including Krishnan when contacted a few of months ago, have suggested that no decision had been taken. Meanwhile, MySpace India doesn’t have any localized interface that it previously did. Krishnan has previously worked with Travelguru, Yahoo India and Cisco. Last week, prior to the announcement, Krishnan hadn’t updated his LinkedIn profile.

LinkedIn, apart from a 3.4 million registered user base, claims that it is growing in India at the rate of around 70,000 users per week, and runs 2 million weekly searches. The company’s advertising sales is with NetworkPlay, and claims that it has over 60 advertisers in India. In India, LinkedIn competes with the likes of Brijj from Info Edge and Peer Power from the Times of India group.

According to the official release, “Krishnan’s long-term responsibility will be to grow the company’s diverse business model comprised of user subscriptions, advertising sales and enterprise software licensing for the Indian market. Near-term this will include a focus on user engagement, strategic partnerships, marketing and general operations.”