Nepal govt recalls 11 ambassadors, including from India

Nepal government has recalled ambassadors from 11 countries, including those serving in India and the U.S. and appointed

Nepal government has recalled ambassadors from 11 countries, including those serving in India and the U.S. and appointed under the Nepali Congress' quota, three months after Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' terminated his alliance with the party and joined hands with KP Sharma Oli.

Despite strong reservations from Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Kaji Shrestha, the government on Thursday recalled these ambassadors, including Nepal’s envoy to India Shankar Sharma, The Kathmandu Post newspaper reported.

This comes ahead of Mr. Prachanda's likely visit to New Delhi on Sunday to witness Prime Minister Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony.

Such a move sends a very undiplomatic message, multiple Foreign Ministry officials told the newspaper.

Foreign Minister Shrestha had reportedly been opposing the proposal to recall ambassadors appointed in the quota for the Nepali Congress and other parties, but Prime Minister Dahal and CPN-UML Chairman Oli unilaterally decided to recall the ambassadors, a Minister told the paper.

Foreign Minister Shrestha reportedly told both Dahal and Oli not to recall all 11 envoys because the performance of some of them was good, the Minister said. Mr. Dahal and Mr. Oli are learnt to have pressured Mr. Shrestha to accept the move which was later decided by the Cabinet.

The decision was supposed to come from the Foreign Ministry but the Cabinet had endorsed it without much discussion. Shrestha opposed the decision in the Cabinet meeting too, sources said.