The government has recommended ambassadors for several vacant diplomatic posts. A Cabinet meeting held on Friday recommended Chiran Jung Thapa as Nepal’s ambassador to the United States, Gaurav Shumsher Rana to the United Kingdom, Nischal Nath Pandey to India, and Kalyan Raj Sharma to China, among others.
Similarly, the Cabinet has recommended Jigyan Kumar Thapa as ambassador to Japan, Suresh Kumar Karn to Israel, Prapti Sherchan to Spain, Sharu Joshi Shrestha to Germany, Dr. Padmakshi Rana to Oman, Chudamani Kharel to Malaysia, Prof. Dr. Sangam Shrestha to South Korea, Dr. Manchal Jha to Sri Lanka, and Giribahadur Sunar to Saudi Arabia.
Nepal has had ambassadorial vacancies in 21 countries for some time. Of these, Nepali ambassadors have been absent from 11 countries for nearly 10 months, while six other missions have been without ambassadors for around four months.
Brief Profiles of the Proposed Ambassadors
1. Dr. Nischal Nath Pandey — Proposed Ambassador to India
Dr. Nischal Nath Pandey is regarded as one of Nepal’s established scholars of foreign affairs and foreign policy. He currently serves as Director of the Centre for South Asian Studies (CSAS).
Previously, he served as Executive Director of the Institute of Foreign Affairs (IFA) under Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1998 to 2006. During 1996–97, he also worked as an adviser on tourism and civil aviation at the National Planning Commission.
In 2016, Pandey served as an expert with Nepal’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In 2017, he was a member of the high-level Foreign Policy Task Force formed by the government.
Pandey holds a PhD in political science and a bachelor’s degree in law from Tribhuvan University. He is an Honorary Assistant Professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies in Bengaluru, India, and a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) at the National University of Singapore. He previously served there as a Visiting Research Fellow.
He has also undertaken visiting fellowships at Germany’s SWP in Berlin and the University of Hull in the United Kingdom. From 2011 to 2019, he served as a board member of the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies in Colombo.
He has published more than a dozen edited volumes and research works, including three books on Nepal’s foreign policy and regional cooperation. In 2015, Pandey completed the South Asia Leader Executive Program at Harvard Kennedy School.
2. Dr. Kalyan Raj Sharma — Proposed Ambassador to China
Dr. Kalyan Raj Sharma is an expert on Nepal-China relations, a China studies scholar (sinologist), and an economist. He has worked for more than two decades in education, institutional leadership and bilateral policy relations.
He holds a PhD in economics from Fudan University in China. His research focused on foreign direct investment, trade and tourism financing.
He currently serves as President of the Fudan University Alumni Association Nepal, President of the Nepal-China Friendship Forum since 2013, and President of the Council of Sinologists–Nepal.
He is also a Visiting Scholar at the Kathmandu University School of Management, where he developed and teaches a course on “Doing Business in China.”
Sharma is also Managing Director of Adventure Outdoor Excursion Pvt. Ltd., which promotes Himalayan and cross-border tourism. He also serves as an independent director of Apex Funds Limited and several hydropower and energy companies.
For his contribution to Nepal-China relations, he received the Nepal Bhushan honor from the President of Nepal in 2016 and the Silk Road Friendship Award in 2021. He was one of 12 people worldwide to receive the latter award.
He regularly comments and lectures on Nepal-China economic diplomacy, trade and Belt and Road cooperation.
3. Chiran Jung Thapa — Proposed Ambassador to the United States
Chiran Jung Thapa is an expert in national security and international affairs with two decades of experience in security policy, crisis management and diplomacy.
He holds a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, where he studied on a full academic scholarship. He earned his bachelor’s degree in international relations from SUNY Geneseo.
Since 2017, Thapa has served as a Regional Security Adviser for Asia at Oxfam, an international non-governmental organization. In that role, he has led work related to risk management and crisis management across 15 countries in Asia.
Previously, from 2013 to 2016, he worked at the international NGO Saferworld as Regional Security and Justice Adviser for Asia. From 2010 to 2013, he served at The Asia Foundation as an adviser on security-sector and civil-military relations.
During this period, he provided advice to Nepal’s Ministry of Defence, National Security Council, Nepali Army and Nepal Police. He also helped develop the Nepali Army’s first course on civil-military relations.
Thapa has also worked with the Permanent Missions of Singapore and Nepal to the United Nations in New York. He is the first Nepali civilian to complete Harvard Kennedy School’s Leadership in Homeland Security program. He has received commendations from the Chief of the Nepali Army twice.
In 2023, he was invited as the keynote speaker from Nepal at the first Chanakya Defence Dialogue, organized by the Indian Army.
His professional experience spans Nepal, the United States, the United Kingdom and various countries in South and Southeast Asia.
4. Retired General Gaurav Shumsher Rana — Proposed Ambassador to the United Kingdom
Retired General Gaurav Shumsher Rana is a military leader and strategist who served in the Nepali Army for more than four decades. He served as Chief of the Army Staff from 2012 to 2015.
He led the process of integrating former Maoist combatants into the Nepali Army under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. He headed the Nepali Army during Nepal’s transition to a federal democratic republic.
During his tenure, the Army implemented its 10-year Long-Term Plan and Military Doctrine 2013.
As Chief of the Army Staff, he led Operation Sankat Mochan, the Nepali Army’s rescue and relief operation following the 2015 earthquake. The operation coordinated the participation of 18 foreign military teams.
Earlier, in addition to serving as Chief of the Army Staff, he held positions including Chief of General Staff, Director General of Military Operations, and commander of Nepal’s UNIFIL peacekeeping battalion in southern Lebanon.
He holds an MSc in Defence and Strategic Studies from Quaid-i-Azam University in Pakistan and a bachelor’s degree in history and political science from Tribhuvan University.
He is a graduate of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the United Kingdom, the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, and Pakistan’s National Defence University.
He currently serves as Chairman of Conservation Alliance Nepal. He has participated as a speaker at various international forums, including Harvard University, the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, and the first United Nations Chiefs of Defence Conference.
5. Jigyan Kumar Thapa — Proposed Ambassador to Japan
Jigyan Kumar Thapa has worked for more than two decades to strengthen Nepal-Japan relations. He holds a master’s degree in international relations and law from Yokohama National University and a bachelor’s degree in international cooperation from Shumei University.
Since 2009, he has worked at the Kanagawa International Foundation as a specialist in international cooperation, public policy and multicultural affairs.
Since 2005, he has coordinated high-level bilateral visits and dialogues between Nepal and Japan. In this capacity, he has facilitated visits and exchanges involving the presidents, prime ministers and foreign ministers of both countries.
In 2026, he organized the Nepal-Japan business dialogue held during the Nepali President’s visit to Japan.
He has worked closely with JICA, UNICEF and Japanese local governments on international cooperation and migration management.
He is an adviser to the Chamber of Commerce in Nepal, a former General Secretary of Non-Resident Nepali Association Japan, and a former president of the Nepali Students’ Association in Japan.
He has also taught as an adjunct professor at various Japanese universities, including the University of Tsukuba, Aoyama Gakuin University and Nihon University.
He is proficient in Japanese at JLPT Level N1 and has published various works on Nepal-Japan relations and comparative public administration.
6. Suresh Kumar Karn — Proposed Ambassador to Israel
Suresh Kumar Karn has more than three decades of executive experience in information technology, banking and economic policy.
While serving as Chief Information and Marketing Officer at Kumari Bank from 2003 to 2015, he developed and launched the concept of Kumari Mobile Cash. It has been described as Nepal’s first mobile wallet. For this initiative, he received the South Asian MBillionth Award.
From 2015 to 2019, he served as Chief Operating Officer of Nepal Bank Limited, where he led the bank’s transition to an integrated core banking system.
Since 2024, he has served as Chairman of Kumo Labs Pvt. Ltd., described as Nepal’s first technology venture established with Japanese foreign direct investment under the Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer Act 2019.
He has served two consecutive terms as President of the Computer Association of Nepal (CAN Federation).
He also served as an ex-officio member of the Nepal government’s IT Council and a high-level commission on information technology. He played a role in developing Nepal’s first National Information Technology Policy in 2000.
Karn holds an MBA in international trade, investment and infrastructure economics from the Belt and Road School of Beijing Normal University. He is also a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers (India).
He received the National ICT Excellence Award in 2019. His international experience includes participation in ASOCIO conferences, global VISA meetings and information-security training with the Korea Internet & Security Agency.
He began his career as an inspector in the Nepal Police and ranked first in his batch during national police training.
7. Prapti Sherchan — Proposed Ambassador to Spain
Prapti Sherchan is a Nepali specialist with 15 years of experience in international development and partnerships across South Asia, Southeast Asia and Africa.
Since 2015, she has worked at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group, as an Operations Officer specializing in Gender Solutions and Impact. She has led IFC India’s gender program.
She has also served as the Asia lead for IFC’s Women’s Insurance Program. Under her leadership, inclusive financial partnerships reportedly reached more than 1.3 million women across Asia and Africa and contributed to 9,500 jobs.
She has led multicountry research on commercial banking covering Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. She also led a 10-country regional study with the ASEAN Insurance Council, which contributed to the introduction of requirements for reporting gender-disaggregated employee data.
She holds an MBA in Sustainable International Development from the Heller School at Brandeis University and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the National University of Singapore.
She has represented IFC at high-level international forums, including the World Bank Group–IMF Spring Meetings.
She is Co-Chair of the U.S. Board of Women Lead Nepal and a co-founder of the IFC Millennial+ Resource Group.
8. Sharu Joshi — Proposed Ambassador to Germany
Sharu Joshi is a senior policy expert with more than 25 years of experience in labor migration management, gender equality and international cooperation. She is credited with making significant contributions to the development of Nepal’s foundational policy framework on labor migration.
She contributed to the formulation of the Foreign Employment Act 2007, Foreign Employment Rules 2008 and Foreign Employment Policy 2012.
From 2002 to 2012, she worked at UN Women as Regional Programme Manager for South Asia and Head of Labour Diplomacy. From 2012 to 2016, she served at UN Women Nepal as a Program Specialist and Head of the Women’s Economic Empowerment Unit, and from 2016 to 2018 as a Strategic Partnerships Specialist.
Since 2018, she has worked as an independent senior policy and international relations consultant. She has served as a national consultant for UN Women and as an adviser to the World Bank on post-COVID migrant reintegration.
She has also represented Nepal at the Global Forum on Migration and Development and COP28.
Since 2024, she has been a member of the Executive Board of the Nepal Policy Institute. She has also advocated nationally for voting rights from abroad for Nepali migrant workers living overseas.
She holds a master’s degree in Women and Development from the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague and a master’s degree in political science from Tribhuvan University.
She is the author of the book Euta Singo Bhanchi Herda. She has published more than 60 articles on labor migration and gender issues.
9. Dr. Padmakshi Rana — Proposed Ambassador to Oman
Dr. Padmakshi Rana is a development and entrepreneurship specialist with more than 15 years of experience in sustainable development, inclusive innovation and international cooperation. Her professional experience spans Nepal, Asia and Europe.
Since 2022, she has served as Executive Director and Co-Founder of Impact Hub Kathmandu. She has represented Nepal within the Impact Hub Global Association and its Asia-Pacific regional cluster.
She has developed partnerships with organizations including UK Aid/FCDO, the European Union, UNDP, UNICEF, UNESCAP, the World Bank and the Royal Academy of Engineering.
She holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Manufacturing, where her research focused on corporate social responsibility in the food production sector. She also holds an MPhil in Environment, Society and Development from Cambridge and an MBA from Webster University in Thailand.
Before joining Impact Hub, she conducted research and taught at the University of Cambridge. She was also a co-founder of The Inceptery, a sustainability and innovation consultancy based in Singapore.
She has published research on sustainable business models and post-disaster tourism recovery in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region. She is proficient in both English and Nepali.
10. Chudamani Kharel — Proposed Ambassador to Malaysia
Chudamani Kharel has worked in the fields of education and public administration. His academic background includes humanities, English, political science and law.
He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English, a master’s degree in political science, and a bachelor’s degree in law from Tribhuvan University.
He currently serves as General Secretary of the Nepal Yoga Sports Association. Previously, he served as General Secretary of the Nepal Skating and Skateboard Association and as Member-Secretary of a subcommittee for the Seventh National Games under the National Sports Council.
These roles reflect his long experience in national sports administration and leadership.
He also taught English for several years as a lecturer at Cosmopolitan College and John Bauer College.
His various professional roles have included experience in administrative management, preparation of legal documents and institutional organization and operations.
11. Prof. Dr. Sangam Shrestha — Proposed Ambassador to South Korea
Professor Sangam Shrestha is an internationally recognized academic and policy expert with more than 25 years of experience in international cooperation, climate resilience and water-security diplomacy.
He is currently a professor at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Thailand and a former Dean of the School of Engineering and Technology. He is also the Founding Co-Director of the Global Water & Sanitation Center.
He has worked with organizations including the Asian Development Bank, World Bank, Gates Foundation, United Nations agencies, European Union, FAO and UNESCO, mobilizing international grants and partnerships worth hundreds of millions of dollars. He has worked with governments and diplomatic missions in more than 30 countries.
He has also maintained cooperation with Bangladesh’s Department of Public Health Engineering and its diplomatic community.
He holds a PhD in Integrated River Basin Management from the University of Yamanashi in Japan. Together with colleagues, he has published more than 200 research papers. His h-index is reported to be 52.
The source states that ScholarGPS ranked him ninth worldwide in the fields of climate change and river studies and that he has appeared multiple times on Stanford University’s Top 2% Scientists list.
He has also served as a visiting professor at Beijing Normal University and the National University of Laos. He has supervised the research of more than 20 PhD and more than 150 master’s students from various Asian countries.
12. Dr. Manchala Jha — Proposed Ambassador to Sri Lanka
Dr. Manchala Jha is an expert in good governance and public policy. From 2015 to 2019, she served as a commissioner of Nepal’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
She contributed to national efforts related to truth, justice and reconciliation and represented the commission at various international forums on transitional justice. She also presented Nepal’s experience with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Sri Lanka.
She is an Assistant Professor at Tribhuvan University. From 2021 to 2024, she also taught in the university’s postgraduate program on governance and anti-corruption.
She holds a PhD in Hindi literature from B.R. Ambedkar University, India. She also holds master’s degrees in political science, with a specialization in foreign policy and diplomacy, and Hindi literature from Tribhuvan University.
From 2011 to 2020, she served as an invited expert member of the national implementation and monitoring committee for the United Nations’ Istanbul Programme of Action.
She has also trained government and civil-society stakeholders on women, peace and security under UN Security Council Resolutions 1325 and 1820.
She is known as a regular election observer and media commentator on Nepal’s politics and governance. In 1996, she received the Mahendra Vidya Bhushan from King Birendra.
13. Giribahadur Sunar — Proposed Ambassador to Saudi Arabia
Giribahadur Sunar is a sociologist and development expert with more than 25 years of experience in international development, policy consulting and coordination among multilateral stakeholders.
His areas of expertise include social protection, gender equality and social inclusion (GESI), community-based climate adaptation, and grievance-management mechanisms.
He has worked in these areas on major infrastructure and water-sector programs supported by the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.
He is currently a PhD researcher in sociology at Tribhuvan University and completed his MPhil in 2019.
He has published the book Empowering Women Through Self-Defense through Scholars’ Press in Germany.
He currently serves as Secretary of Social, Environment and Rural Development Nepal (SERD-Nepal).
11. Prof. Dr. Sangam Shrestha — Proposed Ambassador to South Korea
Professor Sangam Shrestha is an internationally recognized academic and policy expert with more than 25 years of experience in international cooperation, climate resilience, and water security diplomacy.
He is currently a professor at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Thailand and a former Dean of the School of Engineering and Technology. He is also the Founding Co-Director of the Global Water & Sanitation Center.
He has collaborated with organizations including the Asian Development Bank, World Bank, Gates Foundation, United Nations agencies, the European Union, FAO, and UNESCO, mobilizing international grants and partnerships worth hundreds of millions of dollars. He has worked with governments and diplomatic missions in more than 30 countries. He has also maintained ongoing collaboration with Bangladesh’s Department of Public Health Engineering and its diplomatic community.
He earned his PhD in Integrated River Basin Management from the University of Yamanashi in Japan. Together with his colleagues, he has published more than 200 research papers. His h-index is reported to be 52. ScholarGPS has ranked him ninth globally in the field of climate change and river studies, and he has reportedly been included multiple times in Stanford University’s “Top 2% Scientists” list.
He has also served as a Visiting Professor at Beijing Normal University and the National University of Laos. He has supervised the research of more than 20 PhD students and over 150 postgraduate students from various Asian countries.
12. Dr. Manchala Jha — Proposed Ambassador to Sri Lanka
Dr. Manchala Jha is an expert in good governance and public policy. She served as a Commissioner of Nepal’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission from 2015 to 2019.
Having contributed to national efforts concerning truth, justice, and reconciliation, she has represented the Commission at various international forums on transitional justice. She has also delivered presentations in Sri Lanka on Nepal’s experience with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
She is an Assistant Professor at Tribhuvan University. From 2021 to 2024, she also taught in the university’s postgraduate program on governance and anti-corruption.
She earned her PhD in Hindi Literature from B.R. Ambedkar University in India. She also holds postgraduate degrees in Political Science and Hindi Literature from Tribhuvan University, with specialization in foreign policy and diplomacy.
From 2011 to 2020, she served as an invited expert member of the National Implementation and Monitoring Committee for the United Nations Istanbul Programme of Action. She has also provided training to government and civil society stakeholders on women, peace, and security under UNSCR 1325 and 1820.
She is also known as a regular election observer and media commentator on Nepal’s politics and governance. In 1996, she received the Mahendra Vidya Bhushan from the then-King Birendra.
13. Giribahadur Sunar — Proposed Ambassador to Saudi Arabia
Giribahadur Sunar is a sociologist and development expert with more than 25 years of experience in international development, policy consulting, and coordination among multilateral stakeholders.
His areas of expertise include social protection, gender equality and social inclusion (GESI), community-based climate adaptation, and grievance redress mechanisms. He has worked in these areas on major infrastructure and water-sector programs supported by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.
He is currently a PhD researcher in Sociology at Tribhuvan University and completed his MPhil in 2019. He has authored the book Empowering Women Through Self-Defense, published by Scholars’ Press of Germany. He currently serves as Secretary of Social, Environment and Rural Development Nepal (SERD-Nepal).
