India on Monday named Shiv Shankar Mukherjee, senior diplomat and Ambassador to Nepal, as its new envoy to Britain.

A 1971-batch officer of the Indian Foreign Services, Mukherjee will succeed Kamlesh Sharma, who was recently elected as the Commonwealth Secretary General.

The new British High Commissioner is expected to take up his assignment shortly.

Mukherjee will move to London [Images] after an eventful and successful three-year stint in Kathmandu, during which the Himalayan country witnessed revolutionary changes, resulting in the abolition of monarchy.

With India having a crucial role in Nepal, he is credited to having efficiently handled the diplomatic situation arising in that country, since King Gyanendra seized power in February 2005.

A major popular movement forced the King to give up absolute power and rebel Maoists joining the government after a decade-long fighting against the system.