The government has recommended ambassadors to six different countries since the positions in some of the countries have been lying vacant for a long time while some vacancies came up recently.

A Cabinet meeting on Thursday proposed six career diplomats as Nepali envoys to various countries.

Lok Bahadur Thapa, who currently heads the North-East Asia division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has been recommended as Nepal’s Permanent Representative and Ambassador to the United Nations. Thapa previously served as Nepal’s envoy to Belgium.

Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal was keen to take up the job in New York but the government decided to send Thapa instead, to lead the mission.

Thapa’s New York posting is considered a tough assignment given Nepal’s several responsibilities, including the leadership of the least developed countries (LDC), which Nepal currently chairs.

Tej Bahadur Chhetri has been recommended as Nepal’s envoy to the United Arab Emirates. He is the joint-secretary of the Central Asia, West Asia and Africa Division of the ministry.

The ministry’s administrative head, Ghana Shyam Lamsal, has been named the envoy to Kuwait.

Dhan Bahadur Oli, joint-secretary of the regional organisation division, has been recommended for Thailand while the ministry’s Chief of Protocol Sudhir Bhattarai is expected to assume the office of Nepal’s ambassador to France.

The South Asia division head Ram Prasad Subedi has been recommended as the ambassador to Switzerland.

However, no recommendation has been made to fill the position of envoy to Canada, which has been lying vacant for several months.

According to Cabinet sources, Foreign Secretary Paudyal, who was interested to become an ambassador, has been asked to continue in his current position until the end of December.

The President appoints the diplomats to their positions in the designated countries once they are endorsed by the parliamentary hearing committee.