Kathmandu is suddenly curious.
A day after Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba returned from his three-day visit to India, New Delhi on Monday announced that its ambassador to Nepal has been appointed new foreign secretary.
“The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Vinay Mohan Kawtra, 1988 batch of Indian Foreign Service, ambassador to Kathmandu, to the post of foreign secretary,” reads a notice issued by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, government of India.
Speculations went into an overdrive almost immediately as to who will replace Kwatra in Lainchaur.
In Kathmandu, of the many, at least two appointments draw quite some attention—Nepal’s envoy to Delhi, and India’s ambassador to Nepal.
Multiple officials the Post spoke to said they have yet to learn who will replace Kwatra in Kathmandu.
According to a senior Nepali official who was part of Deuba’s delegation to India, there were some indications that Kwatra was set to become the new foreign secretary of India to replace Harsh Vardhan Shringla.
Shringla is retiring on April 30.
Kwatra, who had left for New Delhi for Deuba’s visit, is still there and is due to arrive in Kathmandu on Tuesday.
Until Kwatra’s appointment, India’s ambassador to the United States of America, Taranjit Sandhu, was in the race for the coveted post.
Multiple diplomatic sources in Kathmandu and New Delhi told the Post that at least three names are making rounds in New Delhi’s power corridors for Kwatra’s successor.
Kumar Tuhin, currently director general at the Indian Council for Cultural Relations; Satosh Jha who is currently serving as Indian ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and the European Union; and Abhay Thakur, additional secretary at the Ministry of External Affairs of India, are some possible names that are making rounds in the South Block as possible successor of Kwatra.
Similarly, Pranay Verma, Indian ambassador to Vietnam who earlier headed the East Asia Division at the Ministry of External Affairs, is also seen as Kwatra’s possible successor in Kathmandu.
Thakur has already served as joint secretary (North, Nepal and Bhutan Desk) in India’s Ministry of External Affairs in 2014-15.
“Since the Indian prime minister directly takes decisions on ambassadorial appointments, particularly in neighbouring countries and major power countries, there are no words yet from New Delhi on who will replace Kwatra,” said an Indian diplomat on the condition of anonymity.
Unlike Kathmandu, which oftentimes takes time to appoint its ambassador to India, Delhi does not keep its Lainchaur mission vacant for a long time.
“So we are expecting a new ambassador’s appointment very soon,” a senior Nepali official told the Post. “As of now, we have not heard anything from Delhi.”
Kwatra has been serving as Indian ambassador to Nepal since March 2020.
Before arriving in Kathmandu, he served as India’s ambassador to France from October 2015 to August 2017. This is his second stint in Kathmandu, as he was earlier serving at the SAARC Secretariat.
Earlier, he also served as a joint secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister of India.
Kwatra is the first Indian ambassador to Nepal to become foreign secretary after Shayam Saran in 2004.
Earlier Maharaja Krishna Rasgotra who served in Kathmandu mission was also made Indian foreign secretary from 1982 to 1985. Similarly, Kawal Sibal who earlier worked as the deputy chief of mission at the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu, also served as India’s foreign secretary 2001-2002.
Sources said Kwatra is returning to Kathmandu on Tuesday to pay farewell calls on the top political leadership and officials before he leaves for New Delhi to take charge of the new assignment.
