EPG member Nilambar Acharya referred as next envoy to India

Nilambar Acharya, a member of the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) formed by India and Nepal, has been nominated as next ambassador to India.

"The ministers have agreed to nominate Nilambar Acharya as next envoy to India. The position of the ambassador to India has remained vacant for long. The procedure for his approval as ambassador will start soon," a source inside Nepal's Prime Minister Office said.

Acharya, who is a senior advocate and political analyst, also served as a minister in the interim government in the 1990s.

"The parliamentary hearing for his appointment will start soon. There is less chance that he will be rejected as his name has been placed in the cabinet after consultations," said another source in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On July 16, the Nepal government had endorsed former Chief Election Commissioner Neelkantha Upereti as the envoy to India. However, he was rejected for the post as the Constitution barred him from taking over the post.

The newly-adopted Constitution of Nepal states that any former Chief Election Commissioner or those from governmental bodies cannot be referred as the envoy to any of the nations.

The post of the ambassador to India has been vacant since last year after the then envoy to India, Deep Kumar Upadhyaya, stepped down to contest the legislative elections on a Nepali Congress ticket.