The Nepali Congress Party (NCP) has recalled ambassadors from six countries within the second week of forming the government with a large majority after the elections. Ambassadors from India, Australia, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Denmark and South Africa, who were appointed through political quotas, have been asked to return.

The tenure of an ambassador is four years. In countries like neighboring India, China, the powerful US and the UK, no ambassador has been able to complete the full term in recent decades. In powerful countries, ambassadors are usually appointed through political quotas.

The practice of recalling those appointed through political quotas with the change of government means that two or more ambassadors from Nepal reach the respective country during the four-year tenure of an ambassador. However, since they are ambassadors through the Foreign Service (career), they have mostly completed their four-year tenure.

The Balendra Shah-led government has also continued the old trend of changing ambassadors after the change of government. Although those appointed under the political quota have been recalled, those who went to the foreign service as ambassadors have not been recalled. The recalled include Shankar Prasad Sharma (India), Chitralekha Yadav (Australia), Dr. Purna Bahadur Nepali (Sri Lanka), Dr. Shivamaya Tumbahangphe (South Korea), Sumnima Tuladhar (Denmark), and Kapil Shrestha (South Africa). These ambassadors were appointed on the basis of the recommendation made by the KP Sharma Oli-led government formed by the Congress-UML alliance on 14 Shrawan 2081.

When the Sushila Karki-led government recalled 11 of the 17 ambassadors who were appointed under the political quota on 30 Asoj, these six were considered lucky ambassadors who were not recalled. At that time, the government did not make any official statement about why the 11 were recalled and why the six were not recalled. This time, even when the decision to recall the six was taken, the government has not made the reason for the recall public. It seems that the old practice has only been continued. Lok Bahadur Chhetri Poudel, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has said that ambassadors from 6 countries have been recalled. He said that they were asked to return after giving them a period of one month.

Ambassador Sharma to India is among those who have been recalled twice in the last four years. His first appointment to India was on 6 Chaitra 2078 on the recommendation of the then government led by Sher Bahadur Deuba. The Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led government, which relied on the support of the UML, recalled ambassadors from 11 countries, including Sharma, in Jestha 2081. At that time, ambassadors from India, the US, the UK, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Malaysia, Spain, Portugal, Denmark and Israel were recalled without completing their terms. Even after being recalled, Sharma was considered lucky at that time. The government changed. Arju Rana Deuba became the Foreign Minister in the government formed under the leadership of Oli with the support of the Congress. She recommended Ambassador Sharma, who was recalled just a month ago, to be appointed as the ambassador to India again. Sharma was appointed as the ambassador to India for the second time on 3 Poush 2081 after the completion of the parliamentary hearing and the process of 'Agrimo' from India.

34 Nepali ambassadors are appointed to various countries, including the 3 permanent missions to the United Nations. The 2075 guidelines on the appointment of ambassadors state that 50 percent of the total ambassador posts should be from the foreign service and the remaining 50 percent should be from people who have made significant contributions to the diplomatic sector and are renowned in various fields of national life. The ruling party has been appointing people loyal to the leader and party in the second 50 percent, with no exceptions. The selection of people as ambassadors has repeatedly become controversial.

There have been examples of problems arising when people appointed to the post of ambassador do not even consider what to say or not to say. Maya Kumari Sharma, who became an ambassador from the Maoist quota, had courted controversy by calling Qatar, the country where she was working, an open prison. Nepal had to dismiss Sharma in October 2017 under pressure from Qatar. Dhan Prasad Pandit, who was recommended for the appointment of ambassador to Israel last year, became a laughing stock in the diplomatic community by saying during a parliamentary hearing that he would take diplomatic initiatives to bring about a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. After becoming an ambassador, he was criticized for not being able to play an effective role in rescuing Nepalis who were in trouble due to the war. He was recalled last October after being included in the recall list.

The Karki-led government had recalled Krishna Prasad Oli (China), Shail Rupakheti (Germany), Dhan Prasad Pandit (Israel), Netra Prasad Timilsina (Malaysia), Ramesh Chandra Poudel (Qatar), Jungab Chauhan (Russia), Naresh Bikram Dhakal (Saudi Arabia), Sunil Nepal (Spain), Chandra Kumar Ghimire (UK), Lokdarshan Regmi (US) and Durga Bahadur Subedi (Japan). Although Subedi was a foreign service employee, he was appointed in 2079 BS under the political quota when Sher Bahadur Deuba was the Prime Minister. Except for Subedi, all the ambassadors were recalled before spending a year in the respective countries.

Some of the recalled ambassadors had appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court had ordered on 17 Kartik not to implement the decision to recall the ambassadors. Some of the recalled ambassadors have been appearing at the ministry based on that order. They also resigned gradually. However, Dr. Shail Rupakheti, who was recalled from Germany, and Sanil Nepal, who was recalled from Spain, are still attending the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and receiving salary benefits.

Former Foreign Secretary Madan Kumar Bhattarai says that diplomats are given priority in the appointment of ambassadors all over the world. ‘China and India have stopped appointing ambassadors from outside the diplomatic service. Political appointments to ambassadors have become an old system all over the world. Now everyone has left. Only in exceptional and special circumstances do some countries send ambassadors on political appointments,’ he said. ‘However, in our country, 50 percent of the share has been given to those outside the diplomatic service. People appointed in this way are removed with the change of government. There has been diplomatic instability. This has damaged the diplomatic image of the country.'

He mentioned that the practice of adding embassies and appointing random people due to the increasing number of ambassadorial aspirants within the party has caused unrest in the foreign affairs. He said that the results of the political instability that the country has been experiencing for years in internal politics have also been seen in the foreign affairs sector. He said that since a government with a large majority has come out of the elections and politics is also expected to be stable, the government should take steps to send a message of stability in the foreign affairs sector. 'Recalling or keeping an ambassador vacant from any country is considered an extraordinary situation.' However, we have made that practice seem normal. This should be improved,' he said. 'We should be able to send another person to the vacant position soon. Professional diplomats should be appointed. When political appointments are made, people who are knowledgeable in diplomacy, skilled and qualified should be selected.'