Kathmandu

Naveen Srivastava, the new Indian Ambassador to Nepal, arrived in Kathmandu on Saturday to take up his assignment.

Srivastava is succededing Vinay Kumar Kwatra who completed his Nepal assignment in April. He took over as Foreign Secretary on May 1.The post at Lainchaur was vacant for almost two months.

India had appointed Srivastava as its new ambassador to Nepal on May 17. Before taking up the new assignment in Kathmandu, Srivastava was serving as an additional secretary in India's Ministry of External Affairs and heading the East Asia Division that deals with China, Japan, Korea, and Mongolia, the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu said.

He also headed the Indian delegation in several rounds of diplomatic talks with China on the eastern Ladakh border row.

Officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu welcomed Srivastava upon his arrival at Tribhuvan International Airport.

Srivastava has served previously as Ambassador of India in Cambodia from 2015-17. He has also served in Washington, Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong in various capacities.

He is known as a strong China hand and the man who was an integral part of the India-China military commanders' meeting to defuse the situation after border skirmishes in the Galwan valley in May last year. A 1993 batch Indian Foreign Service officer, Srivastava had earlier served as India's ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia and was Consul General of India in Shanghai.

Sources said that after presenting his letter of credence to President Bidhya Devi Bhandari in the coming week, Srivastava will begin his official work.