The Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led government on Thursday decided to recall 11 envoys from various countries, including India, the United States, and the United Kingdom. This decision has caused uproar in political and diplomatic circles.

Although the government clarified that the recall of the ambassadors was part of its regular duties, experts argue that recalling Shankar Sharma from India just ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony on Sunday sends a negative message and mars the country’s diplomatic image.

Dahal is set to travel to New Delhi on Sunday morning to attend the Indian prime minister's swearing-in. But how can the prime minister attend the ceremony alongside an ambassador he neither trusts, nor has confidence in?

Dinesh Bhattarai, former ambassador and adviser to two prime ministers, told the Post that Ambassador Sharma should decline to accompany the prime minister to Modi’s oath-taking as the prime minister recalled him due to a lack of trust and confidence.

Bhattarai questioned why the prime minister did not recall the ambassadors to China and Russia, because they were also appointed by the same previous coalition [of the Nepali Congress and the Maoist Centre]. “While we would like to believe our foreign policy is not based on ideology, such decisions create suspicion,” he said.

According to multiple officials at the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there were talks to recall ambassadors as soon as the Nepali Congress left the coalition, and the CPN-UML came on board with Prime Minister Dahal in the first week of March.

But it was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Naryan Kaji Shrestha who repeatedly advised Dahal and UML chief KP Oli that frequent recalls of ambassadors would not send a good message. Instead, Shrestha suggested that if necessary, only those with poor performance should be recalled, according to officials.

But Shrestha could not sustain the pressure from Dahal and Oli. Ahead of the Cabinet meeting on Thursday, both Dahal and Oli pressured Shrestha to take the decision for a political reason.

The decision to recall the ambassadors from the Cabinet was taken without a formal proposal from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Earlier, there had been discussions about recalling some ambassadors, but it was postponed due to the investment summit, said Pradeep Gyawali, deputy general secretary of the UML and former foreign minister.

“My personal view is that if we appoint ambassadors after conducting parliamentary hearings, we should not recall them prematurely,” said Gyawali, particularly in connection with the recall of the ambassador to New Delhi ahead of the prime minister's visit. “This does not send a positive message. It would be good if we considered this aspect, especially in India’s case,” said Gyawali.

Ambassador Sharma, who earlier served as Nepal’s envoy to the US and also as vice chairman of the National Planning Commission, was busy preparing for the prime minister’s Delhi visit when the news of his recall came on Thursday.

“I was in a meeting with Indian government officials regarding the preparations for the prime minister’s visit on Sunday,” Sharma told the Post over phone from New Delhi. “The decision came as a surprise to me.”

He said he was expecting a recall following a government change in Nepal, but he did not expect that the government would recall him right before the prime minister's visit to India for such an important ceremony.

“The prime minister could have waited at least one more day to recall me. Now, Indian friends are asking me on what grounds should I continue to work and prepare to welcome the prime minister? This certainly does not send a positive message in New Delhi as well,” said Sharma.

But the government is trying to downplay its decision saying it should not be linked to the prime minister's visit.

Government spokesperson and Minister for Communication and Information Technology Rekha Sharma claimed that the prime minister's visit and the recall of 11 envoys are not linked.

“Whether this is good or bad is a matter of debate, but there is an established tradition of recalling ambassadors after a government change,” she said.

We will discuss the impact of recalling the ambassadors, she said.

UML Chairman Oli, meanwhile, has said the prime minister and foreign minister are responsible for the ambassadors’ recall. “The government probably thought it was the right decision. I am not aware of it. Only the government can explain it,” Oli told reporters in Chitwan on Friday.

“The prime minister and foreign minister seem interested in recalling ambassadors. This is something they know better,” he said.

Despite these statements, sources say, the UML is seeking the largest pie in the upcoming ambassadorial appointments including those to India and the US, and the recall decision was taken with Oli’s consent.

The recalled ambassadors are Sharma (India), Sridhar Khatri (USA), Gyan Chandra Acharya (United Kingdom), and Jyoti Pyakurel Bhandari (South Korea). They were appointed in the quotas allotted to the Nepali Congress when Sher Bahadur Deuba was the prime minister of the Congress-Maoist Centre coalition in 2021. Sharma, Acharya, and Khatri were appointed in October 2021.

Other ambassadors whose terms were cut short are Naresh Bikram Dhakal (Qatar), Nawaraj Subedi (Saudi Arabia), Sharmila Parajuli Dhakal (Spain), Ram Swartha Ray Yadav (Denmark), Kanta Rizal (Israel), Dilliraj Poudel (Malaysia) and Salin Nepal (Portugal).

Dhakal, Rizal and Nepal were also appointed under the Congress quota before the party left the Dahal-led government in March. Subedi and Yadav were recommended by the Janata Samajbadi Party.

Dhakal for Spain was appointed under the quota of the CPN (Maoist Centre), but her influence in the party was weak, sources claimed. Poudel was appointed under the CPN (Unified Socialist) quota, but he failed to build a cordial relationship with Minister for Labour DP Aryal. The envoys have been given three to four weeks to return, according to a minister.

Former Foreign Secretary and ambassador Madhu Raman Acharya also says the government decision sends a bad message to the international community.

“The government could have released the Cabinet decision after Modi’s swearing-in. Just like the regime change in Kathmandu, the decision to recall 11 envoys in bulk does not sound good. With such repeated incidents, our diplomacy and diplomatic credentials could hit rock bottom. The rest of the world does not take us seriously, and actions like these will prevent us from engaging in serious diplomatic work,” said Acharya.