INDIA’S new ambassador of Bahrain Piyush Srivastava arrived yesterday.
Mr Srivastava landed at the Bahrain International Airport in one of the Air India flights which took back Indians as part of the Vande Bharat Mission, the country’s evacuation mission amidst the pandemic.
He is expected to assume office after the 10-day home quarantine as part of the required health protocol for Covid 19.
The announcement of Mr Srivastava as the new envoy to the kingdom came in April.
A career diplomat who joined the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) in 1998 was formerly the joint secretary in Indian External Affairs Ministry.
He has earlier served in PAI (Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran) and southern divisions of the ministry. He has also served at senior positions in Indian embassies in Germany, Bhutan, Nepal and in the Indian High Commission in Ghana in different wings – political, commercial and economic co-operation, information and media, among others.
Mr Srivastava has acquired rich experience and knowledge of India’s neighbourhood, extended neighbourhood (South East Asia and Pacific) and economic diplomacy.
During his tenure as the deputy chief of mission at the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu, he co-ordinated the Indian government’s relief and rescue efforts in the wake of the major earthquake in Nepal in April 2015.
He has also served as joint secretary in the country’s premier foreign policy think tank, Indian Council of World Affairs.
Mr Srivastava holds B Tech and M Tech degrees in materials and metallurgical engineering from IIT Kanpur.