Kathmandu [Nepal], June 30 (ANI): India's new ambassador to Nepal, Naveen Srivastava presented his credentials to the President of Nepal Bidya Devi Bhandari at a ceremony held at President's Office on Thursday.

Ambassador Srivastava also paid a courtesy call on Nepal's Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba today after presenting his credentials, the Indian embassy in Kathmandu said in a press release.

In his meetings, Ambassador Srivastava conveyed the greetings from President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He added that the recent visit of Deuba to India and of PM 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.

Ambassador Srivastava is the 26th Ambassador of India to Nepal. He has succeeded Ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra, who left Nepal for New Delhi in April 2022 for his assignment as Foreign Secretary.

Ambassador Srivastava last week arrived in Kathmandu to take charge of his office. Naveen Srivastava is a career diplomat and he arrived from New Delhi where he was heading the East Asia Division that deals with China, Japan, Korea and Mongolia.

Succeeding Vinay Mohan Kwatra, the incumbent Foreign Secretary of India who completed his assignment earlier in the month of April, Naveen Srivastava will take full charge as Envoy to Nepal after submitting his credentials to Nepali President Bidhya Devi Bhandari.

Back in Delhi, the newly appointed ambassador, who is also an Indian Foreign Service officer of the 1993 batch, headed the Indian delegation in several rounds of diplomatic talks with China on the eastern Ladakh border row.

After taking up the role, he has discussed India-Nepal border issues with the chief of the border guarding Central armed police force Sujoy Lal Thaosen.

The 1993-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, Srivastava, has also discussed the deployment and working of Sashastra Seema Bal along the India-Nepal border with Thaosen, during his visit to the SSB Headquarters earlier. He also took a meeting with other senior officers of the force too.

The other officers who took part in the meeting included B. Radhika, Additional Director General and PK Gupta, Inspector General (Operations). He has also served as Ambassador of India in Cambodia from 2015-17 previously and has also offered his services in Washington, Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong in various capacities. (ANI)