KATHMANDU: Minister for Foreign Affairs Madhav Prasad Ghimire today made it clear that all envoys who have completed their tenure should return home as per the circular sent earlier by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Talking to a group of journalists days before his visit to India, Ghimire said it was a matter of principle to return home once the envoys’ ambassadorial stint expired. “It has nothing to do with whether a new ambassador has been picked or not,” added Ghimire.
He did not name any of the envoys who had overstayed their tenure. However, The Himalayan Times had reported in recent past that the envoys to the United Kingdom, Kuwait and the USA were lobbying to get their tenures extended. Ambassador to Kuwait Madhuwan Paudel and Nepal’s envoy to the USA Shankar Sharma are yet to return home though their tenures expired last year.
Paudel and Chalise had told The Himalayan Times that they would remain in their posts until new envoys were appointed. But the government is yet to take any initiative to appoint their replacements.
Sharma, however, claimed that he had begun making farewell calls on high dignitaries of the USA.
As is a normal practice, more than six months ago the MoFA had sent all three of them circulars asking them to be prepared to return to Nepal once their tenures ended. It also directed them in writing to make farewell calls on high dignitaries, including the heads of the state/government and foreign ministers of their host countries.
However, Chalise, Paudel and Sharma have shown no urgency to do so.
It may be mentioned that tenure of Ambassador to Canada Bhoj Raj Ghimire and Nepal’s envoy to Sri Lanka Sushil Chandra Amatya had also expired around the same time as Sharma’s and Paudel’s but they have already returned home.