The Diplomat
The Prime Minister of Nepal, Sher Bahadur Deuba, has appointed Sarmila Parajuli Dhakal as his country’s new ambassador to Spain.
Sarmila Parajuli Dhakal will fill the vacancy left by Dawa Phuti Sherpa, who was dismissed in October last year after Deuba’s arrival in government, along with a dozen other ambassadors considered ‘political’.
Nepal’s new representative in Madrid is also not a diplomat and was Nepal’s ambassador to Oman between May 2017 and October 2021.
Sarmila Parajuli Dhakal has extensive experience in business and entrepreneurship. She was Chairperson of her own company, “Carefare Pvt. Ltd” and Vice Chairperson of the Nepal-Dubai Business Council, based in the UAE.
In the field of education and literature, she was Vice-President of Himalaya School & College, one of the most prestigious schools in Nepal, and has conducted research studies on the representation of women in the Vedas and the Bible. She also holds a Master’s degree in Humanities and Social Sciences (English Literature) from Tribhuvan University, Nepal.
Sarmila Parajuli Dhakal will be the third person to head the Nepalese Embassy in Spain in just four years, as the first ambassador, Bharat Rayamajhi, was appointed in April 2018. However, in December the same year, he was ordered to return to Kathmandu, claiming that his work was deficient and also that a new system of appointing ambassadors was to be put in place. After a year of vacancy, his post was filled by Dawa Puthi Serpha, who arrived in Madrid at the end of 2019.