India’s first-ever female chargé d’affaires in Pakistan, Geetika Srivastava arrived in Islamabad on Wednesday as her predecessor Suresh Kumar returned to New Delhi.

Srivastava is a 2005 batch Indian foreign service officer who was serving as a joint secretary in India’s ministry of external affairs’ Indo-Pacific division.

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She participated in Nepal’s National Day celebration arranged by Nepal’s Ambassador to Pakistan Tapas Adhikari.

The Indian and Pakistani missions in the capital cities of Islamabad and New Delhi have been without high commissioners since August 2019 when Article 370 was abrogated by India to end Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir’s special status.

The last Indian high commissioner, who served in Islamabad was Ajay Bisaria who was expelled in 2019 after Pakistan decided to downgrade diplomatic ties over New Delhi’s move to revoke the special status IIOJK.