KATHMANDU: Acting Foreign Ministry Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai has officially assumed the position of Foreign Secretary. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) announced on its official X account (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday.

In the announcement, MoFA confirmed that Rai, a career diplomat has formally taken charge as the Foreign Secretary, the top bureaucratic post in the ministry. Rai has been a civil servant since 1996.
Rai was promoted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ top bureaucratic position following the government’s decision to appoint former Foreign Secretary Sewa Lamsal as Nepal’s Ambassador to Belgium and the European Union.

Who is Nepal’s New Foreign Secretary, Amrit Bahadur Rai?
Amrit Bahadur Rai, born on April 4, 1970, is a Nepali diplomat and public administrator. He joined the civil service in 1996. He has held various positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Nepali forein mission, including Permanent Representative of Nepal to the United Nations, Vice President of the Seventy-seventh session of the General Assembly and the Chair of The Economic and Financial Committee (Second Committee) at the Seventy-fifth session.

He also served as the Ambassador of Nepal to South Africa (2014-2018) and Minister Counsellor of the Permanent Mission of Nepal to the United Nations, New York (2008-2013), Joint Secretary in the South Asia Division (2013-2014) and Europe-America Division (2013).

Earlier his roles include Under Secretary in the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation (2003-2005), Ministry of General Administration (2002-2003), and Ministry of Women, Children, and Social Welfare (1996-2002).

Rai holds a Master’s degree in Public Management from the University of Potsdam, Germany (2002-2003), a Master’s in Public Administration from Tribhuvan University (1997-1998), and a Master’s in Business Administration from Nepal Commerce Campus (1992-1993). He has also attended training programs at the China Foreign Affairs University (2006), the Nepal Administrative Staff College (2007), and the Asia-Pacific Centre for Security Studies in Hawaii (2007). Rai is married and has three children.