Nepal's newly-appointed Ambassador to India Dr Shankar Prasad Sharma on Friday took the oath of office and secrecy here.
President Bidya Devi Bhandari administered the oath of office and secrecy to Dr Sharma at a special function organised at the Office of the President, Sheetal Niwas, My Republica newspaper reported. Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka was also present on the occasion.
President Bhandari on the recommendation of the government appointed economist and former US envoy Dr Sharma as the country’s new Ambassador to India on March 20.
The post was vacant after Ambassador Nilambar Acharya, who was appointed by the previous government, was recalled from Delhi some six months ago.
Sharma had earlier served as Nepal’s Ambassador to the United States. He also worked as Vice Chairman of National Planning Commission between 2002 and 2006.
Sharma, who holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Hawaii, had also served as the chief advisor at the Ministry of Finance. He has participated in the UN General Assemblies, annual meetings of the World Bank and the IMF, SAARC Summits, UNESCAP annual meetings and many other international meetings.
Before joining the National Planning Commission as a member in 1997, he worked as a Senior Economist in the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore and as a Fellow in the East-West Center, Hawaii.
Sharma also served as a Professor of Economics at the Centre for Economic Development and Administration, Tribhuvan University.
He worked as a lead consultant to the Constitution Committee on "Distribution of Natural Resources, Economic Rights and Public Revenue" in helping draft the new Constitution of Nepal.
He has published eight books on economy, energy and the environment of the Asia-Pacific region including Nepal. He also worked as a consultant expert in a number of national and international agencies including the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, and UNDP.
Sharma was also an editor to ASEAN Economic Bulletin and a consultant editor to Hydrocarbon Asia, both published from Singapore for about seven years.
