Newly appointed Ambassador of India to Nepal, Manjeev Singh Puri, has arrived Nepal on Saturday. He landed at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu this morning.

Puri is the 24^th ambassador of India to Nepal. He replaced Ranjit Rae who completed his three-and-a-half year term on February 28.

Puri will submit his letter of credence to President Bidhya Devi Bhandari on Sunday.

Before Puri was appointed as ambassador to Nepal, he was working as an Indian Ambassador to Belgium.

Amb Manjeev Singh Puri arrives in Nepal. Amb Puri to take over as the 24th Ambassador of India to Nepal. pic.twitter.com/5cJzq5AJG2

— IndiaInNepal (@IndiaInNepal) March 25, 2017

PURI’S PROFILE

An Indian Foreign Service officer of the 1982 batch, Puri had served as Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations in New York from 2009 to 2013. He was a senior member of India's Security Council team during the years 2011-2012, when India served on the Security Council.

Ambassador Puri was actively involved with issues of sustainable development and environment and was a lead negotiator in India's delegation for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in June 2012, Indian Embassy sources said.

He was a key member of India's delegation at various Climate Change negotiations, including the Major Economies Forum and the Conference of Parties of the UNFCCC in Copenhagen in December 2009. Ambassador Puri served on the Board of the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate and is on the Advisory Board of India's most well known environment organization, TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute, New Delhi).

From 2005-09, he headed the United Nations Division in the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi dealing with economic and social issues.

In the course of his Foreign Service career, Ambassador Puri has served twice in Germany (in Bonn from 1984-86 and Berlin from 1991-94) and speaks German. He was the coordinator of the Festival of India in German in 1991-92 and established the Indian Cultural Centre in Berlin.

 Ambassador Puri's other postings have been Bangkok (1986-89), Caracas (1989-91), Cape Town (1998-2002), Muscat (2002-05) and as Deputy Chief of Protocol in-charge of high level visits in the Ministry of External Affairs from 1994-98.

 Manjeev Singh Puri (born 1959) has a Masters degree in Management and had worked for Hindustan Unilever before joining the Government of India. He did his BA (Honours) in Economics from St. Stephen's College, Delhi University, with top honours. He is married to Mrs. Namrita Puri and they have two children.

Photos: Hemanta Shrestha