New Delhi: Days after Mauritius’ opposition coalition secured a landslide majority, India has appointed seasoned diplomat Anurag Srivastava as its next high commissioner to Mauritius. Mauritius, an island nation, has emerged as a strategic player in the Indian Ocean region.
This comes just days after Mauritius' opposition coalition won the country's election by a landslide, taking all seats in the country's parliament in a major rejection of the current government.
Who Is Anurag Srivastava?
Anurag 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).
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.
In Mauritius, 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, Srivastava 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.
Mauritius Election Result
According to results released at various constituencies across the country, the governing coalition led by Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth failed to get any of the 62 seats available for voters to directly decide on.
The Alliance for Change coalition's win ensured the return of Navin Ramgoolam as the country's prime minister. He served as prime minister from 1995 to 2000 and again from 2005 to 2014.
Jagnauth conceded defeat before all results were announced, saying his Militant Socialist Movement coalition was headed for a huge defeat as it became clear that the opposition was winning in all of the country's 21 constituencies.
(With inputs from PTI)