TND Team

His Excellency Mr. Kedar Bhakta Shrestha was born in Kathmandu on 18th January 1938. He is married to Shanta Shrestha and has a son and two daughters. He holds M.A. in Political Science and International Affairs from the University of Bombay 1959.

Nepalese Ambassador to the United States of America H.E. Mr. Kedar Bhakta Shrestha granted TND (The Nepal Digest) an exclusive interview. H.E. Mr. Shrestha answered all the questions put forward by Kamala Sarup and Ujjwal Bhattarai on behalf of TND (The Nepal Digest).

 1. Please share your brief background from Nepal with TND readers.

I began my career as a civil servant in Nepal in 1964. And in February 1997, after 34 years of service, I retired as the Foreign Secretary of His Majesty's Government of Nepal. I was then appointed as Ambassador to the European Union in Brussels and also to the Benelux countries in 1997. I served in that capacity until 2002. As a career diplomat, I had had the opportunity to serve at our Embassies in Bonn, Washington as well as in our Permanent Mission in New York. I also served as Director in the SAARC Secretariat in Kathmandu from 1987 to 1992.

Role of an Ambassador:

2. What are your major role as an Ambassador of Nepal in Washington DC. What are your priorities?

As an Ambassador stationed in Washington DC, my work includes maintaining a regular dialogue and communication with the US government and various other US agencies to promote Nepal's national interests. I am glad to say that at present Nepal-US relations are in an excellent state. The volume of US assistance is increasing and Nepal is getting moral and material support for institutionalizing democracy, peace and stability in the country.  Besides this, I see immense prospects for promoting tourism as well as developing trade and investment links between our two countries. People to People relations are equally important in promoting mutual understanding and goodwill between our two countries. Cultural exchanges are vital in this regard. I will try my best to encourage and promote all these activities for our mutual benefits.

3. Our peaceful country Nepal is going through rounds of violence. What could be some of the steps that you could take from DC to stop violence and restore peace?

It is most unfortunate that Nepal's image as a peaceful and peace loving country is being tarnished by the Maoist violence that has ravaged the country for the last nine years. In the name of people's war, the so-called Maoists have waged an absolutely unjust and unwarranted war against the people and against democracy. Multiparty parliamentary system of governance is the order of the day and it has worked well in places where freedom and individual liberty are upheld and respected. So it should be in Nepal too. I would like to urge all the Nepalese in this country to look at the problem in a constructive way and assist the government in its efforts to bring peace in the country in whatever way they can.

Nepalese in the USA

4. Now that you have had some chance to mingle with Nepalese community here in the USA, in Virginia and New Jersey among other places, how have you perceived the Nepalese living in US?

I have had some opportunity to meet and interact with members of the Nepalese Diaspora in various parts of the USA since I came to Washington DC in August this year. I am greatly encouraged by their love and affection towards their motherland. The ongoing spate of violence in the country equally troubles them. And they all want this to stop for good. I appreciate their concerns from the bottom of my heart. And I look forward to having more interactions with the Nepalese communities and the NRNs in coming days. There is an increasing realization in Nepal that non-resident Nepalese can play a significant role in the development of the country. I would like to call upon all non-resident Nepalese to see how and in what ways they can support Nepal in her development efforts. Meanwhile, I would like to assure them all that peace, stability and progress are the overriding concerns for all of us in Nepal and the present government is making sincere efforts to get the Maoist problem resolved as soon as possible.

5. To some extent it could be said that the relationship of Nepalese living in US and the Nepalese Embassy is limited to renewing passport. Are you planning for any actions that would help Nepalese Diaspora and the embassy to come together more often and share resources constructively for the betterment of Nepalese?

It is true that consular services constitute one of the important works of the Embassy. With the number of Nepalese growing every year, the volume of our consular work has also increased significantly. But we still don't have a reliable figure of the total number of Nepalese in the USA and Canada. We only have estimated figures, and these estimates vary depending on where they come from. So we want to begin in a very modest way. I would like to call upon all the Nepalese associations and organizations in the USA and Canada to share with the Embassy whatever list of Nepalese they have with them so that a more realistic figure could be worked out. We also need to know how many Nepalese students are currently undertaking higher studies in various US universities. We welcome information on these matters from the Nepalese communities so that the Embassy could have a more reliable database in hand.  Once we have this basic information, we can work together in many ways for the benefit of our country and community.

6. In a conflict situation like we have in Nepal, what do you suggest Nepalese living abroad to implement various educational, charitable programs effectively for the people of Nepal.

We all know that a conflict situation is an exceptional situation. The ongoing conflict has created unnecessary hardship for the common people of Nepal. Even the development activities in the rural areas are badly affected.  So, any educational and/or charitable programs meant to ease the common people's hardships in the remote parts of the country will be welcome.

US-Nepal Relationship

7. Under the light that the USA providing direct military and assistance to Nepal, how do you look at this new relationship and what could be its future implications.

The United States of America has remained a very important development partner of Nepal for almost six decades now. Their assistance has been very valuable in areas such as education, infrastructure building, health and family planning, agriculture, transportation, communications etc. In view of the ongoing Maoist insurgency and the widespread damage and destruction of public property caused by them, the US military assistance is meant to better equip and train the Royal Nepalese Army. Democratic peace, stability and development are our major concerns and as soon as the Maoists come to the national political mainstream under a multi-party parliamentary system, normalcy will return to Nepal.

Nepal's present situation

8. How do you summarize present political situation in Nepal to an average American?

Nepal has a coalition government consisting of representatives from major political parties that were present in the dissolved parliament. The government is trying to restore peace in the country through talks with the Maoists, and hold parliamentary elections to form a representative government as early as possible. But the Maoists have yet to respond positively. And, this has been a continuing source of political instability in the country. As for the average Americans, I would like to tell them that Nepal continues to be an attractive tourist destination and the American tourists are most welcome in the country.

9. Do you think the Maoist insurgents of Nepal might pose threat to other countries in the region?

In an increasingly interdependent and globalized world of today, insurgency in one part of the globe can have ramifications in terms of population dislocation, instability, economic disruption, insecurity etc. for the rest of the world as well. Naturally, therefore, the effects of the ongoing Maoist insurgency in Nepal can quite easily cross over to other countries in the region as well. However, as for specific threats to other countries in the region, it is for each one of them to assess the level of threats by themselves.

10. How do you look at the proposal of Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general to help Nepal?

His Majesty's Government appreciates the good wishes from all our well-wishers including the United Nations to see the early restoration of peace in Nepal. And, His Majesty's Government believes that the Maoist problem can be resolved internally through a peace process involving the two sides.

Final words:

11. Our best wishes for your very successful tenure. Would you like to pass on any message to Nepalese in the USA through TND? 

Thank you for your best wishes, and for this interview through which I am reaching out to the Nepalese communities in the USA and elsewhere. I have been impressed by the way the Nepalese are organizing themselves in various parts of the USA. I am even more impressed by the deep affection and love they continue to hold for Nepal. I deeply admire them, and I would like to encourage them to lend their creative support in whatever ways they can to facilitate the peace efforts of the government.