Patrons

His Excellency Mr. Naveen Srivastava, Ambassador of India to Nepal

H.E. Mr. Naveen Srivastava assumed charge as the Ambassador of India to Nepal on 25 June 2022.

Ambassador Srivastava joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1993, and began his diplomatic career in Hong Kong. Subsequently, he served in Embassy of India in Beijing looking after bilateral relations between India and People’s Republic of China. Ambassador Srivastava has also served in Embassy of India in Washington DC from June 2009 to July 2012 as Counsellor (Political) and as Consul General of India in Shanghai, China from August 2012 to July 2015. He served as Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of Cambodia from August 2015 to May 2017. He was on deputation to the New Development Bank (NDB), Shanghai, China from June 2017 till June 2019 as the Director General and Corporate Secretary of the Bank where he worked with the President and the Board of the Bank. At the headquarters in New Delhi, Ambassador Srivastava has served in Disarmament & International Security Affairs Division and in the office of Foreign Secretary.

Before joining his current assignment, he was in charge of East Asia Division in MEA that looks after India’s relations with China, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mongolia and Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Mr. Srivastava holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from University of Maryland, USA.

Vinay Mohan Kwatra, assumed charge as the Ambassador of India to Nepal on 1^st March 2020 till 16^th April 2022. He was born on 15 December 1962, an Indian diplomat of Indian Foreign Service who served as the 34th Foreign Secretary of India, from May 2022 until July 2024 and is currently serving as Ambassador of India to the United States. Previously, he has served as the Ambassador of India to France.

He has previously served at Ministry of External Affairs, India and Prime Minister's Office as Joint Secretary. He has also served as Minister (Commerce) at the Embassy of India in Washington D.C. from May 2010 to July 2013. 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 the Americas Division in the Foreign Ministry where he dealt with India's relations with the United States and Canada. He has served at different positions in many of India's missions abroad and in India. Kwatra holds an experience of nearly 32 years in a range of assignments and joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1988.

Manjeev Singh Puri is a retired Indian diplomat of the Indian Foreign Service who has served as an Indian Ambassador to Nepal from 25^th March 2017 to 31^st December 2019. He also served as an Indian Ambassador Luxembourg, Belgium and European Union.

He has an MBA from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies of Mumbai University and got his B.A. (Honours) in Economics degree from St. Stephen's College, Delhi of Delhi University.

Manjeev Singh Puri joined the Indian Foreign Service in the year 1982 and in the course of his diplomatic career spanning over 36 years, he has served in different capacity in Indian Missions abroad and in the India's Foreign Ministry including a number of multilateral organizations such as the United Nations, European Union etc.

In Delhi, he has served as Joint Secretary (UN- Economic & Social) and Deputy Chief of Protocol in the India's Foreign Ministry. Prior to becoming India's Ambassador to Nepal, he has served as Ambassador of India in Brussels from 2014-2017 and as Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of India to the UN in New York from 2009 to 2013.

Ambassador Ranjit Rae was born on 25th February 1957. He did his Post Graduation (Economics) from Delhi School of Economics. He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1980 after lecturing for two years (1978-80) at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University. Ambassador Rae has served as Ambassador of India to Vietnam and Hungary (also accredited to Bosnia & Herzegovina and Slovenia), First Secretary, Permanent Mission of India, New York (Alternate representative on the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Board; Member of the United Nations Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions); Second Secretary/Acting High Commissioner, High Commission of India, Kampala . He was on deputation to the United Nations Mission in Kosovo and Department of Peace Keeping Operations of the United Nations in New York (Feb 2000-Aug 2002). At headquarters of the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi he has served as Head of Northern Division dealing with Nepal and Bhutan (Oct 2002-Jan 2006), Director in the office of the External Affairs Minister (Dec 1998-Feb 2000), Deputy Secretary/Director (Economic Cooperation Unit) (Feb 1994- Dec 1995), Under Secretary/Deputy Secretary, United Nations Division/ Foreign Secretary’s Office (Oct 1986-Jan 1991). He attended a course on Strategic Studies at National Defence College New Delhi (Jan 1998-Dec 1998). He has also served as Press Secretary to the President of India (Dec 1995-Dec 1997).

Jayant Prasad is a former Indian civil servant of the Indian Foreign Service cadre who served as the Director General of the Delhi-based Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, a think-tank affiliated with the Indian Ministry of Defence between September 2015 and September 2018.

He served as an Indian ambassador to Nepal from 25 August 2011 – 25 August 2013, a post that was earlier held by his father, Bimal Prasad from 1991 to 1994. This was his last posting abroad prior to retirement.

In Indian Missions abroad, he has served as India's Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament, Geneva (2004-2007), Ambassador to Algeria; Counsellor for trade access and development cooperation at the Indian Mission to the European Union in Brussels, First Secretary in the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations, Geneva and Second Secretary in the Embassy of India in Paris. He was Ambassador to Afghanistan at the time of the 2008 and 2009 Kabul Indian embassy attacks.

He was member of U.N. Secretary-General's Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters (2005–07), and Rapporteur of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, Geneva (1986–87). He was a Fellow at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University from 1998 to 1999 where he worked on a research project to study new parameters of India's foreign policy and to delineate India's strategic and technological environment through the year 2010.[citation needed] He was appointed Director General of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis (IDSA) in September 2015.

Rakesh Sood, assumed charge as the Ambassador of India to Nepal on 25^th April 2008 till 11^th August 2011. He was born on 5^th February 1953, a former Indian diplomat of the Indian Foreign Service cadre, columnist, and writer. He was appointed as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's special envoy for disarmament and non-proliferation in September, 2013. He did his secondary schooling at Ramjas Higher Secondary School -5, New Delhi. He studied physics at St. Stephen's College, Delhi and went on to join the Indian Foreign Service in July 1976.

He has served as India's Ambassador to Afghanistan and Nepal, Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. He has also served as Deputy Chief of Mission in the Embassy of India in Washington DC.

Among his other assignments abroad, Ambassador Sood has been First Secretary and Counsellor in India's High Commission in Islamabad and First Secretary in the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations Offices in Geneva, apart from serving in India's diplomatic missions in Brussels and Dakar. Rakesh also served as Indian Ambassador to France with concurrent accreditation to Monaco

At the Ministry of External Affairs, Mr. Sood was Joint Secretary heading the Disarmament and International Security Affairs Division.