New US envoy coming to Nepal

Kathmandu, Oct. 8

Dean R. Thompson is coming soon to Nepal as a new envoy of the United States of America to Nepal.

A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Thompson has previously served as the State Department’s Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs, and was the acting Assistant Secretary from 2020-2021.

He had taken the oath for the post of the ambassador to Nepal on October 3, and is likely to arrive here within a few weeks.

In a hearing with the International Relations Committee of the US Senate last Wednesday, Thompson had said that he would fulfil his responsibilities in Nepal, and work with the government here to promote humanitarian support, inclusion and economic opportunities for marginalised communities.

Meanwhile, US Ambassador to Nepal Randy Berry has returned home on October 3 after completing his four-year tenure in Nepal on October 2. He had presented his credentials to President Bidya Devi Bhandari in October 2018. Berry is appointed the ambassador of the USA to Namibia.

According to a statement of the White House published on March 29, 2022, Thompson had served as the Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and the Deputy Chief of Mission and Charge d’affaires, a.i. of the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest, Romania.

Thompson also was the Consul General of the U.S. Consulate in Kolkata, India. Similarly, he served as Director of the State Department’s Executive Secretariat Staff, Deputy Director of the State Department Operations Center, Director of the Operations Center Crisis Management Staff, and Deputy Director for Information Resources Management for the Executive Secretariat, the White House informed.

He obtained his M.A. degree from the University of Maryland School of Public Affairs, and a M.S. in National Security Strategy from the National War College, National Defence University. He also speaks several foreign languages, including Romanian and Bengali.

 Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 9 October 2022.