London —India has appointed  Vinay Mohan Kwatra as its new ambassador to Nepal.

Kwarta, currently India’s ambassador to France, will succeed Manjeev Singh Puri, whose term ended in December-end, sources have said.

He has already served as a joint secretary at the office of the Prime Minister of India. He has also headed the Policy Planning and Research Division of the Ministry of External Affairs of India.

Kwarta is expected to arrive in Kathmandu in February.

Who is the  new envoy of India to Nepal ?
According to the official website of Indian embassy Paris , H.E. Mr. Vinay Mohan Kwatra is a member of the Indian Foreign Service with an experience of nearly 30 years in a range of assignments.

After joining the Indian Foreign Service in 1988, he served as Third Secretary and then Second Secretary in the Permanent Mission of India in Geneva until 1993, where apart from learning the French language, he handled work relating to the UN specialized agencies, as also the Human Rights Commission.  During this period, he also obtained a diploma in International Relations from the Graduate School of International Studies in Geneva.

Between 1993 and 2003, he served as Desk Officer at Headquarters dealing with United Nations, and subsequently in the Diplomatic Missions in South Africa and Uzbekistan.  Between 2003 and 2006, he served as Counsellor and later as the Deputy Chief of Mission in the Embassy of India, Beijing, China.  From 2006 to 2010, he represented India at the SAARC Secretariat in Nepal as head of the Trade, Economy and Finance Bureau.

From May 2010 till July 2013, he served as Minister (Commerce) in the Embassy of India, Washington.

Between July 2013 and October 2015, Mr. Kwatra headed the Policy Planning & Research Division of the Ministry of External Affairs and later served as the head of Americas Division in the Foreign Ministry where he dealt with India’s relations with the United States and Canada.

From October 2015 till August 2017, Mr. Kwatra served as Joint Secretary in the office of the Prime Minister of India.

He is married to Pooja, who has done her Master’s Degree in Business Administration and M. Phil. in Finance.  They have two sons, aged 25 and 19 years.