Govt names ambassadors to 21 countries

The government has nominated Nepal's ambassadors to 21 different countries, including 13 political appointees and eight joint secretaries from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Among the 13 political appointees, the ruling parties have carved out their shares on the basis of their respective strength.Six of the appointees have been proposed by the CPN-UML, four by UCPN (Maoist) and three by Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal (RPP-N). The government is yet to recommend an envoy for Oman, which is to be the share of the Madhesi People's Rights Forum-Democratic (MPRF-D). A cabinet meeting on Tuesday recommended the names and they will be appointed after confirmation through the Parliamentary Hearings Committee. The joint secretaries of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) who have been named for ambassadorial posts are Durga Bahadur Subedi Chhetri for the United Kingdom, Tara Prasad Pokharel for Brazil, Ramesh Khanal for Germany, Jhabindra Aryal for Egypt, Sewa Adhikari for Pakistan, Prakash Subedi for Austria, Lok Bahadur Thapa for Belgium and Rishi Ghimire for Myanmar. Those recommended under the UML quota are former foreign minister Mahendra Bahadur Pandey for China, former minister for general administration Yubaraj Karki for South Korea, Shiva Maya Tumbahamphe for Israel, Khadga KC for Japan, Narad Bhardwaj for Sri Lanka and Ali Akhtar Mikrani for Saudi Arabia.