Mr. Shanker Das Bairagi assumed the responsibility of Foreign Secretary of Nepal from 11 October 2015 to October 01, 2020.
He joined Nepali Foreign Service in December 1987. Over three decades of his career in Foreign Service, he held a variety of positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nepal and the Nepali Missions abroad.
Mr. Bairagi served as Acting Foreign Secretary/Officiating Foreign Secretary of Nepal from February 2014 to 10 October 2015. He was Ambassador/Permanent Representative of Nepal to the United Nations Office, World Trade Organization and other International Organizations in Geneva as well as international organizations based in Vienna and Rome from February 2012 to November 2013. During the same period, he served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Nepal to the Swiss Confederation with concurrent accreditation to the Republic of Italy.
As Nepal’s Ambassador to WTO, Mr. Bairagi served as the Coordinator of the Consultative Group of the Least Developed Countries in WTO in 2013 and successfully steered the Group during the crucial negotiations on the outcome of WTO’s Ninth Ministerial Conference (known as Bali package). He also led the LDC Group in Geneva during the 13th UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XIII) held in Doha in 2012.
During his tenure as Ambassador/Permanent Representative, Mr. Bairagi led the Nepali delegations to the UN Human Rights Council, World Health Assembly, WIPO Assemblies, Executive Committee of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, IOM Council and Trade and Development Board of UNCTAD. He also participated in a number of international conferences and meetings in Geneva.
Prior to his ambassadorial appointment, Mr. Bairagi served as Deputy Permanent Representative/ Minister Plenipotentiary of Nepal to the United Nations, New York (November 2009 – February 2012). He led at the expert level the Group of 77 and China as a coordinator during the intergovernmental negotiations on the Istanbul Program of Action for the Least Developed Countries, adopted by the 4th UN Conference on the LDCs in May 2011. Mr. Bairagi also negotiated on behalf of the LDCs in the G-77 and China, the final outcome of the 2010 High-level Plenary Meeting on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Mr. Bairagi presided over the 66th Plenary Meeting of the UN General Assembly on 21st December 2009 in Nepal’s capacity as one of the vice-presidents.
Mr. Bairagi worked previously as Second/First Secretary, Embassy of Nepal in New Delhi (August 1995 – May 1998), Counsellor/Minister-Counsellor/Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of Nepal to the Benelux Countries and the Mission of Nepal to the European Union (April 2000 – June 2004), Chargé d’ affaires a.i./Minister-Counsellor/Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of Nepal, Canberra (March 2007 – September 2009). He was assigned to establish a residential Embassy in Canberra, Australia.
Mr. Bairagi was a member in the official delegations during the State/Official visits of the President of Nepal to China (2019), Myanmar (2019), Japan (2019), Qatar (2018), UN (2019), India (2017), Boao Forum, China (2015), Sri Lanka (2017), UAE (2017), and ILO (2017). He was also included in the official delegations during the State/Official visits of the Prime Minister of Nepal to India (1991, 2004, 2016, 2017, 2018), China (2016, 2017, 2018), France (2019), United Kingdom (2019), Vietnam (2019), Cambodia (2019), World Economic Forum, Davos (2019), ILO Centenary Session, Geneva (2019), Costa Rica (2018), Oman (2017), UN (2014, 2017, 2018), 18th NAM Summit (2019) and to the Institutions of European Union (2002).
He represented Nepal in the Paris Peace Forum in November 2018 to commemorate the centenary celebration of the end of the First World War.
He has attended a number of high-level meetings of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), including summit meetings as a member of the Nepali delegation. He was actively involved in successfully holding the 18th SAARC Summit and 4th BIMSTEC Summit in Katmandu in November 2014 and August 2018 respectively. He chaired several meetings and sessions of the SAARC Standing Committee and BIMSTEC Senior Officials Meetings.
He has also attended United Nations General Assembly (1994, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018) as a member of Nepali delegation, the 60th Anniversary of Asian-African Conference and 10th Anniversary of the New Asian-African Strategic Partnership (NASAP) held in Jakarta, Indonesia, 2015 and the World Future Energy Summit held in Abu Dhabi, UAE, 2017. He led the Nepali delegations to the High Level Segment of the 37th Session of the Human Rights Council in February 2018, after Nepal became member of the Council for the first time.
He has led delegation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the meetings of bilateral consultation mechanisms with countries like China, UK, Japan, Canada, Brazil, EU, Switzerland, Australia, Turkey etc.
He attended the Raisina Dialogue 2018 held in New Delhi as a panelist and spoke on the theme ‘Towards a Bay of Bengal Community: Development, Growth and Security’.
Mr. Bairagi has chaired a number of interaction programmes and meetings and delivered statements at different programmes organized by various institutions.
In the Ministry, Mr. Bairagi held a wide range of positions including Joint Secretary looking after Multilateral Economic Affairs Division, Under Secretary for Europe America Division, South Asia Division and SAARC Section and desk officer for India and Bhutan section as well as UN and International Law section.
Mr. Bairagi is a graduate of Law from Nepal Law Campus (1989) and holds Master’s Degree in Political Science from Tribhuvan University (1995). He also obtained a Master’s Degree in European Integration and Development (Euromaster) from Free University of Brussels in 2002.
Mr. Bairagi was born on 26 January 1966 in Parbat, Nepal. Mr. Bairagi and his wife Mrs. Hema Bairagi have three children.