New Delhi [India], June 12 (ANI): The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced the appointment of senior Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer Rudra Gaurav Shresth as India's next Ambassador to the Republic of Turkiye.

According to the official press release issued by the MEA on Thursday, Shresth, a 1999-batch IFS officer, is currently serving as India's Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Iran. He is expected to take up his new assignment in Ankara shortly.

According to the official website of the Indian Embassy in Tehran, Shresth is a career diplomat. He assumed charge as the Indian Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Iran in May 2023.

Earlier in his career, Shresth has worked in India's diplomatic Missions in France, Mauritius, Afghanistan, Singapore, and Bhutan. He also served as India's High Commissioner to Mozambique from 2016 to 2019.

At the MEA in New Delhi, Shresth has held responsibilities dealing with personnel management and policy-planning, and also as the Director of the Foreign Secretary's office. Before his assignment in Iran, he was on a 3-year deputation to the Prime Minister's Office in New Delhi.

According to the official website, Shresth holds a post-graduate degree from the Delhi School of Economics.

Earlier on April 8, India and Turkiye held the 12th round of Foreign Office Consultations (FoC) in the national capital, where the two sides undertook a comprehensive review of the current state of bilateral relations.

The consultations were chaired by Sibi George, Secretary (West) from the Indian side and Berris Ekinci, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs from the Turkish side. The last round of FoC was held in June 2022 in Ankara.

As per a statement by the MEA, during the consultations, both sides held discussions focused on areas such as trade and investments, tourism, technology and innovation, energy, cooperation in educational and cultural fields, people-to-people ties and the fight against cross-border terrorism.

MEA further noted that the two sides also exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest.

Both sides agreed to hold the next round of consultations in Turkiye on mutually convenient dates. (ANI)