Bhinda Swari Shah, Nepal’s first female ambassador, passed away on Thursday. She was born on Falgun 2, 1989 B.S., and died at her residence in Kalimati, Kathmandu, according to family sources.
In 1988 B.S, during the reign of King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah, she was appointed as Nepal’s Ambassador to India. She was the first Nepali woman to receive such an appointment.
At the time of the 2046 B.S. people’s movement in Nepal, she was serving as the Ambassador to India. After returning from India in 1991 B.S, she worked as an Additional Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Shah was born in India’s Kharsang while her father, Padmasundar Mall, was in exile. She completed her early education there and later graduated from Barnard College at Columbia University in the United States.
She was the first Nepali woman to graduate from a college in America. She also completed her post-graduate studies at Johns Hopkins University in the U.S.
After completing her education in the U.S., she passed the Public Service Examination in 1959 and began her career in the Foreign Service. She worked at the Nepali Embassy in the U.S. from 1961 to 1965 B.S.
In 1972 B.S, when Bangladesh became independent, Nepal opened its embassy there, and Shah worked as the Deputy Chief of Mission.
Her husband, Dr. Narayan Kesari Shah, had passed away earlier. Her eldest son, Anil Kesari Shah, is a well-known banker in Nepal. Her younger son, Ujjwal Kesari Shah, has also passed away.