The government has promoted joint secretary Sewa Lamsal to secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

A meeting of the Council of Ministers held on Thursday took the decision, according to the Minister for Communications and Information Technology Rekha Sharma, who is also the government spokesperson.

With the promotion, Lamsal has become the first female secretary to lead the foreign ministry. Earlier she served in different capacities including the chief of the United Nations, international organisations and the international law division of the ministry, spokesperson, Nepali ambassador to Pakistan and deputy permanent representative and minister plenipotentiary at Permanent Mission of Nepal to the United Nations.

A meeting of the promotion recommendation committee chaired by the Chairman of the Public Service Commission Madhav Prasad Regmi on Friday had recommended Lamsal’s name for promotion.

The position was vacant after Bharat Raj Paudyal retired. On November 27, the Parliamentary Hearing Committee endorsed Paudyal as Nepal’s ambassador to Canada.