New Delhi, Jan 28 (PTI) Senior diplomat Sunjay Sudhir has been appointed as India's Ambassador to the Maldives, the Ministry of External Affairs announced on Monday.

Sudhir, a 1993 batch Indian Foreign Service officer who is presently Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, is expected to take up the assignment shortly, the MEA said in a statement.

His appointment comes at a time when the two countries are strengthening ties after a new government came to power in the island nation last year.

Meanwhile, the MEA also announced that Vijay Singh Chauhan, presently Consul General, Consulate General of India, Sao Paulo, has been appointed as the Ambassador of India to Burkina Faso. He is also expected to take up the assignment shortly.

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