Newly appointed Nepali Ambassador to China Leela Mani Paudyal formally assumed his office on Friday. Paudyal presented a copy of credentials to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing.

Harish Chandra Ghimire, minister counsellor at Nepal’s mission in Beijing, told the Post that a formal programme was held at the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Friday. Paudyal was received by the deputy director of the protocol division at the ministry.

The position had been vacant for past six months. After completing his tenure of four years and four months, former ambassador Mahesh Kumar Maskey left the mission in the second week of May. President Bidhya Devi Bhandari appointed Paudyal the ambassador to China on October 30.

Before presenting his credentials, Paudyal held a meeting with Nepali officials on Thursday. According to Ghimire, he urged the officials to work towards taking the Nepal-China relations to a new high.

Paudyal, a former chief secretary of the government of Nepal, had earlier served as the consular general in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China.