New Delhi, Feb. 9 -- Rachita Bhandari, of the Indian Foreign Service batch 2005, presently Joint Secretary in the Ministry, has been appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to Malta, a statement by the Ministry of External Affairs said.

Bhandari is expected to take up the assignment shortly, the statement said.

India and Malta enjoy friendly and cordial relations. India was one of the first countries to recognise the independence of Malta in 1964 and established diplomatic relations with it in 1965.

The High Commission of India was reopened in Malta in Jan 2017 and the resident High Commissioner of India took charge in Jan 2018. Malta opened its High Commission in New Delhi in July 2007 and has Honorary Consuls in Kolkata, Che...