India's new ambassador to Nepal Naveen Srivastava presented his credentials to Nepalese President Bidya Devi Bhandari—an occasion when both sides expressed optimism about the future of their special ties.
Welcoming the ambassador, President Bhandari expressed her belief that the age-old and multi-faceted Nepal-India relations would take newer heights in the coming days, according to Tika Prasad Dhakal, the information and communication expert to President Bhandari.
"The president told the ambassador that Nepal-India relations are of historic significance and both countries are linked by civilization and culture. She stressed the need to further deepen our bilateral ties in the future," Dhakal told Indian Narrative on Thursday evening. After the ceremony, Ambassador Srivastava hit the ground running by separately calling on President Bhandari and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba.
On his part, Prime Minister Deuba expressed hope that Nepal-India ties will be further enhanced in the coming days. He also recalled his visit to India in the first week of April this year. In his meetings, Ambassador Srivastava conveyed the greetings from President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to a press statement issued by the Embassy of India in Kathmandu.
During the meetings, the ambassador said that recent visits of Nepalese Prime Minister Deuba to India and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Nepal had imparted renewed momentum to the bilateral relationship. "He also conveyed his commitment to take forward the friendly relations between the two countries," the embassy stated in the press statement.
Ambassador Srivastava, a seasoned Indian diplomat, is the 26th ambassador of India to Nepal. He came to Nepal to take up his diplomatic assignment on Saturday afternoon. He succeeded Ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra, who left Nepal for New Delhi in April 2022 for his assignment as Foreign Secretary of India.
Srivastava, a 1993 batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS), served as additional secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) before coming to Nepal.
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