Defence Minister Bhimsen Das Pradhan participated in the royal cremation of Thailand’s late monarch King Bhumibol Adulyadej in Bangkok on Thursday.

He was accompanied by Durga Prasad Bhandari, foreign joint secretary and Khaga Nath Adhikari, Nepal’s ambassador to Thailand, the Nepali mission in Bangkok said in a statement on Friday.

 Forty-two high-level foreign dignitaries participated in the cremation ceremony.

During a brief audience with new Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun, Minister Pradhan expressed condolences from the government and the people of Nepal to the Thai king, the royal family, and the people of Thailand for their loss.