Deuba-led Nepal govt recommends veteran diplomat Shanker Sharma as new ambassador to India

The Nepal government on Thursday recommended veteran diplomat Shanker Sharma as the new ambassador to India, a posting lying vacant for over a month now.

Sharma, a close confidant of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, has earlier served as the Himalayan nation's ambassador to the US (2009 to 2013).

In a Cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Deuba, the names of new ambassadors to India, the US and the UK were proposed, said Minister for Information and Communication Gyanendra Bahadur Karki.


While Sharma was proposed for the mission in New Delhi, Sridhar Khatri has been recommended as the Ambassador to the US and Gyan Chandra Acharya for the post in the UK, said Karki, who is also the Government Spokesperson.

An economist by education, Sharma has served as vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission of Nepal (1997) and in different capacities at global organisations United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, World Bank and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

All appointments are subject to approval from host nations and official acknowledgment by the Nepal Parliament

In September, the Deuba government had recalled a dozen ambassadors , who were all appointed by the previous KP Oli-government. Outgoing Ambassador to India, Nilamber Acharya, returned to Kathmandu in early October.