Kathmandu, January 2
Bhinda Swari Shah, Nepal’s first female ambassador, passed away on Thursday at her residence in Kalimati, Kathmandu, according to family sources.
In 1988, she was appointed as Nepal’s Ambassador to India by the then King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah. Shah holds the distinction of being the first Nepali woman to serve as an ambassador.
During Nepal’s 1990 People’s Movement, Shah was serving as the ambassador to India. After her return in 1991, she worked as an additional secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Born in Kurseong, India, during her father Padma Sundar Malla’s exile, Shah completed her early education in India. She later graduated from Barnard College at Columbia University in the United States, becoming the first Nepali woman to graduate from an American college. She also earned a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University.
Shah began her career in foreign service after passing the public service examination in 1959. Between 1961 and 1965, she worked at the Nepali Embassy in the United States. In 1972, when Bangladesh gained independence and Nepal established an embassy there, she served as the Deputy Chief of Mission.
Her husband, Dr Narayan Keshari Shah, passed away earlier. Her elder son, Anil Keshari Shah, is a prominent banker in Nepal, while her younger son, Ujjwal Keshari Shah, has also passed away.
