Xinhua, Kathmandu:
Narayan Khadka, a member of Nepali Congress Central Working Committee, was appointed the minister for foreign affairs of Nepal on Wednesday.
Nepali President Bidya Devi Bhandari, on the recommendation of the five-party government headed by the Nepali Congress party’s President Sher Bahadur Deuba, appointed and administered oath of office for Khadka, said Jaganath Panta, a spokesperson for the Office of the President.
Deuba took office on July 13 as the prime minister of Nepal, but his cabinet had only four ministers and a minister of state before Khadka was appointed, well short of the 25-member target as envisioned under Nepal’s constitution.
A member of the House of Representatives, Khadka served as advisor to then Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai in 1990, and was minister for urban development in the Sushil Koirala government in 2014. He holds a PhD in economics.
Deuba is sending Khadka to New York for the ongoing 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
“I am leaving this evening to participate in the General Assembly,” Khadka told the press after taking office. “My focus will be toward maintaining a balanced and cordial relationship with India and China.”
