Kathmandu, Jun 30 (PTI) India’s newly-appointed Ambassador to Nepal Naveen Srivastava presented his credentials to Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari in a ceremony held at the President’s Office Sheetal Niwas on Thursday.
Seasoned diplomat Srivastava — who was India’s Ambassador to Cambodia from 2015 to 2017 and has served in Washington, Beijing and Hong Kong under different capacities — was appointed India’s new Ambassador to Nepal last month.
“Ambassador of India to Nepal Mr. Naveen Srivastava presented his credentials to the Rt. Hon. President of Nepal Ms. Bidya Devi Bhandari at a ceremony held at President’s Office, Sheetal Niwas, today,” The Indian Embassy here said in a tweet.
Srivastava also paid a courtesy call to Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to the Himalayan nation has “imparted renewed momentum in the bilateral relationship between the two neighbours.” The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced the appointment of Srivastava, a 1993 batch of Indian Foreign Service (IFS), a day after Prime Minister Modi paid a visit to Lumbini in Nepal in May.
In his capacity as additional secretary in the East Asia division, Srivastava headed the Indian delegation in several rounds of diplomatic talks in the virtual format with China on the eastern Ladakh border row.
He was also part of the Indian delegation in a few rounds of military talks between the two sides on the border row.
Srivastava is the 26th Indian Ambassador to Nepal.
He has succeeded Vinay Mohan Kwatra, who is now the Foreign Secretary.
Nepal is important for India in the context of its overall strategic interests in the region, and the leaders of the two countries have often noted the age-old “Roti Beti” relationship.
The Himalayan nation shares a border of over 1,850 km with five Indian states – Sikkim, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
The land-locked country relies heavily on India for the transportation of goods and services. Nepal’s access to the sea is through India, and it imports a predominant proportion of its requirements from and through India.
The India-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1950 forms the bedrock of the special relations between the two countries. PTI SBP VM VM
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.