Govt decides to recall all envoys appointed under political quota

Kathmandu / Sept 21: The government has decided to recall all ambassadors appointed under political quota by the erstwhile K P Oli-led government.

A cabinet meeting held in Singha Durbar on Tuesday made a decision to this effect, according to Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Gyanendra Bahadur Karki. Sources said the cabinet meeting decided to recall all ambassadors except the career diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA).

Nepal has a total 33 diplomatic missions abroad. While career diplomats have been appointed as ambassadors in 10 different missions, the remaining 23 missions are filled by the political appointees.

With this decision, the ambassadorial positions in various major countries including India, China, the US, the UK, Russia and Japan have now fallen vacant.

In a recent decision, the erstwhile K P Oli-led government on May 8 had recommended Krishna Chandra Sharma as ambassador to South Korea, Sumnima Tuladhar to Australia, Yubraj Karki to Bahrain, Narayan Prasad Sangraula to Myanmar, Kul Prasad Nepal to Brazil, Sumitra Subedi to Denmark, Meraj Musalman to Saudi Arabia and Janga Bahadur Chauhan to Russia.

The Oli-led government had earlier appointed Lok Darshan Regmi as the Nepali ambassador to the UK, Dr Yubaraj Khatiwada to the US, Nilamber Acharya to India and Mahendra Bahadur Pandey to China.