Seasoned diplomat Anurag Srivastava appointed as India's next envoy to Mauritius

New Delhi: Seasoned diplomat Anurag Srivastava has been appointed as India's next high commissioner to Mauritius -- an island nation that has emerged as a strategic player in the Indian Ocean region.

Srivastava, a 1999-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) diplomat, is currently serving as a joint secretary helming the Nepal-Bhutan division at the headquarters of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

He will succeed incumbent K Nandini Singla.

Srivastava is expected to take up the assignment shortly, the MEA said in a brief statement on Saturday.

Prior to his appointment as joint secretary in the Nepal-Bhutan division in March 2021, he served as the spokesperson in the MEA for nearly a year.

Srivastava also served as India's ambassador to Ethiopia and the African Union from September 2016 to February 2020.

In his nearly 25-year-long career as a diplomat, he also served in many Indian missions abroad, including as the head of the political wing at New Delhi's High Commission in Colombo and had a stint at India's Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva.

In Colombo, he was closely involved in the formulation and implementation of India's development projects in Sri Lanka.

He has also held different positions in the foreign office in New Delhi, including in the Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran division.

Srivastava obtained degrees in engineering and business management followed by a brief stint in the corporate sector before joining the foreign service.

He also has a postgraduate diploma in diplomatic studies from Oxford University.