KATHMANDU: The race for the new Foreign Secretary has kicked-off after the government appointed Foreign Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi as Chief Secretary on Thursday.
Three joint secretaries at the Ministry are in line for a promotion as Foreign Secretary. Joint Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal, who had earlier served as Nepali Ambassador to Pakistan, is in the line of promotion on the basis of seniority.
After Paudyal, Sewa Lamsal and Amrit Rai are also in the line to hold the post.
Paudyal has been given the responsibility of Acting Secretary on the basis of seniority. However, the names of Lamsal and Rai are also being discussed for the post of Secretary.
Sources claimed that Prime Minister Oli had earlier not agreed to assign the responsibility of foreign Secretary to Paudyal, but now the prime minister has turned positive.
Sources claim that Paudyal is likely to be given the responsibility of Foreign Secretary next Monday as he is the senior among all the current joint secretaries in the Ministry.
As Lamsal is a woman diplomat and Rai is close to the Prime Minister, the government can give them responsibility too.
Joint Secretary Lamsal has recently returned home after completing her tenure as Ambassador to Pakistan, while Rai is serving as Permanent Representative of Nepal to the United Nations.
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