London: The Parliamentary Hearing Committee has completed hearings for 17 proposed ambassadors. On Thursday, hearings were conducted for ambassadors proposed for the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Sri Lanka. The decision on whether to approve or reject these proposed ambassadors will be announced on Sunday, according to committee chair Ishwari Neupane.

On July 29, the government recommended ambassadors for 17 countries. There were nine complaints filed against the proposed ambassadors in the hearing committee. The committee discussed these complaints with the complainants on August 30 and began hearings for the ambassadors on September 1. Complaints have been filed against the proposed ambassadors for Israel, Malaysia, India, and South Africa, claiming that the overall recommendation process was not inclusive. The committee also raised this issue with the Foreign Minister, Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba, emphasizing inclusivity. Now, the committee will decide whether to approve or reject the proposed candidates based on the complaints, the arguments of the complainants, and the responses of the proposed ambassadors.

The ambassadors proposed for the United States and the United Kingdom outlined their plans and priorities, which included inviting the U.S. President to visit Nepal and resolving the pension issue of former British Gurkha soldiers. Lokdarshan Regmi, proposed for the United States, and Chandrakumar Ghimire, proposed for the United Kingdom, mentioned that their priorities include high-level visits, economic diplomacy, and the implementation of bilateral agreements.

Chandrakumar Ghimire, the proposed ambassador for the United Kingdom, committed to resolving the issue of unequal pensions for former British Gurkha soldiers. “The issue of unequal pensions is ongoing. The negotiations are in the final stage,” he said. Members of Parliament repeatedly asked Ghimire about his plans to resolve the issues faced by former Gurkha soldiers. In response, Ghimire stated that there are currently negotiations happening at two levels regarding the Gurkha recruitment issue.

Sanil Nepal, the proposed ambassador for Spain, committed to diplomatic efforts to remove Nepal Airlines from the European Union’s blacklist. “We can lobby the European Union from Spain on the issue of Nepal’s aviation blacklist because Spain has significant representation in the EU. If other embassies in Europe also join efforts to convince the EU, we can achieve results. I will also discuss this with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other embassies,” he said.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the proposed ambassadors include Shankar Prasad Sharma (India), Naresh Vikram Dhakal (Saudi Arabia), Prof. Dr. Kapilman Shrestha (South Africa), Prof. Dhan Prasad Pandit (Israel), Ram Krishna Bhattarai (Sri Lanka), Sanil Nepal (Spain), Shail Rupakheti (Germany), Lokdarshan Regmi (United States), Chandrakumar Ghimire (United Kingdom), Dr. Shivamaya Tumbahangphe (South Korea), Jang Bahadur Chauhan (Russia), Ramesh Chandra Poudel (Qatar), Prof. Dr. Krishna Prasad Oli (China), Sumnima Tuladhar (Denmark), Dr. Netra Prasad Timilsina (Malaysia), Prakash Mani Poudel (Portugal), and Rita Dhital (Pakistan).