Ambassador Pema Choden.
The Diplomat. 18/05/2016
The Kingdom of Bhutan will shortly accredit Pema Choden as new Ambassador to Spain, after the Spanish Government granted the placet, for the first time, for a diplomatic representative of this small Himalayan country of 800,000 inhabitants, according to information provided to The Diplomat by Spanish diplomatic sources.
Spain and Bhutan established diplomatic relations in October 2010. In that sense, Spain was the 26th country to established them, since Bhutan had traditionally behaved as an isolated place, which was very difficult for foreigners to visit. As a curiosity, one of its official indicators is that of the gross national happiness.
In January 2014, Choden became the first woman, along with Kunzang C Namgyel, to be appointed Bhutan’s Ambassador, to be more specific, to Bangladesh. Until then, she had been in charge of Europe, Africa and America’s affairs in the Foreign Ministry of her country.
Until now, Bhutan did not have a diplomatic representative accredited in Spain. There is only an honorary consulate in Madrid. Predictably, Choden will be non-resident ambassador and will follow Spain’s affairs from another European capital, according to the aforementioned sources. Meanwhile, the Spanish official representation in Bhutan is held by the Ambassador to India, although this position has been unfilled since the cessation of Gustavo de Arístegui in December.
