Nepal's cabinet on Friday recommended 13 new ambassadors, proposing foreign-policy scholar Nischal Nath Pandey for India, economist Kalyan Raj Sharma for China, and security specialist Chiran Jung Thapa for the United States.

Nepal’s cabinet on Friday has recommended ambassadors for 13 nations, including India, China and the US. The meeting of the Council of Ministers on Friday afternoon recommended Nischal Nath Pandey, director of the Centre for South Asian Studies and a foreign-policy scholar, as ambassador to India. Pandey previously served as executive director of the Institute of Foreign Affairs from 1998 to 2006 and has advised the government on foreign policy, tourism and civil aviation.

Key Ambassadorial Recommendations

The cabinet recommended Kalyan Raj Sharma, a Nepal-China affairs specialist and economist, as ambassador to China. Sharma holds a PhD in economics from Fudan University and chairs the Fudan University Alumni Association of Nepal, Nepal-China Friendship Forum and Council of Sinologists-Nepal.

National-security and international-affairs specialist Chiran Jung Thapa has been proposed as ambassador to the United States. He has two decades of experience in security policy, crisis management and diplomacy and holds a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University. He has advised Nepal’s Ministry of Defence, National Security Council, Nepal Army and Nepal Police.

Likewise, Former army chief Gaurav Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana has been recommended as ambassador to the United Kingdom. Rana served as chief of army staff from 2012 to 2015 after more than four decades in the Nepali Army. He oversaw the integration of former Maoist combatants into the army and the military response to the 2015 earthquake.

Policy specialist Sharu Joshi has been proposed as ambassador to Germany. She has more than 25 years of experience in labour migration, gender equality and international cooperation and previously worked with UN Women.

Other Nominees and Their Profiles

The other proposed ambassadors are Jigyan Kumar Thapa for Japan, Suresh Kumar Karna for Israel, Prapti Sherchan for Spain, Padmakshi Rana for Oman, Chudamani Kharel for Malaysia, Sangam Shrestha for South Korea, Manchala Jha for Sri Lanka and Giri Bahadur Sunar for Saudi Arabia.

Thapa has worked on Nepal-Japan relations and coordinated high-level bilateral exchanges.

Karna is an IT and banking professional who has also served as president of the Computer Association of Nepal.

Sherchan has worked in international development and inclusive finance at the International Finance Corporation.

Rana is a development and entrepreneurship specialist and co-founder of Impact Hub Kathmandu.

Shrestha is an academic and water-security specialist and professor at the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand.

Jha, a governance and public-policy specialist, served as a commissioner of Nepal’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission from 2015 to 2019.

Sunar is a social scientist and development specialist whose areas of work include social inclusion, gender equality and climate adaptation.

Kharel is an education and public-administration professional who has also held leadership positions in Nepal’s sports administration.

Next Steps in Appointment Process

The recommendations must be approved by the Parliamentary Hearing Committee before the president can appoint the ambassadors. The appointments will also require agrément, or formal consent, from the respective countries.

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