Kathmandu- This year, Russia marks Diplomatic Workers’ Day on 10 February, as Russia and Nepal celebrate 70 years of diplomatic relations. Against this background, the daily work of a Russian diplomat based in Kathmandu offers a quiet but telling illustration of how relations between states are built not only through official correspondence, but also through people who helpboth countries understand each other in practice.This article offers a glimpse into one such day.
A Russian diplomat based in Kathmandu spends his day moving constantly between people, institutions and cultures. From early morning until late at night, his work is about building trust and making sure that Russia and Nepal understand each other a little better, day by day.
On a clear Kathmandu morning, the mountains still pale in the distance, the flag of the Russian Federation rises above the embassy compound. Inside, a Russian diplomat in Kathmandu starts his routine in a way that may look familiar to many Nepalis: with a cup of tea or coffee and the morning news. He checks Nepali newspapers and online portals, follows official government updates and international reports. The goal is simple – to understand the country where he lives and works, following public developments and looking for new opportunitiesfor cooperation between Russia and Nepal.
Very soon, the “paper” part of the day gives way to work with people. For any embassy, consular work is one of the most visible and sensitive responsibilities. In Kathmandu, it often means dealing with Russian tourists and mountaineers. Sometimes a mountaineer loses a passport on the way down from a trekking route. Sometimes a tourist has had an accident and needs help in a hospital far from the capital. In such moments, a Russian diplomat stationed in Kathmandu is not just a man in a suit behind a desk. Together with his colleagues from the consular section, he talks to Nepal Tourism Board officials, local police, doctors and rescue teams, trying to connect people across languages, time zones and procedures so that a worried family in Russia can finally hear: “Your loved one is safe.”
Many of the embassy’s visitors are not tourists, but students. For decades, young Nepalis have gone to study medicine, engineering, natural sciences and other disciplines in Soviet and later Russian universities. Every year, the embassy helps to administer educational quotas and scholarships, answering questions about universities, programs and documents. For a Russian diplomat, this is a particularly rewarding part of the job. He knows that these young people will return to Nepal with knowledge and professional skills that their country needs – to work in hospitals, design hydropower projects, teach at universities or develop new businesses. Education becomes a bridge that will last much longer than any single posting. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, more than 5,000 Nepali students have studied in Russia and the former Soviet Union under scholarship schemes, and today around 40-60 new scholarships are offered to Nepali students every year under the Russian Government quota program.
Later in the day, the scene moves from the consular section to meeting rooms. Official contacts are a traditional part of diplomatic life, but in Kathmandu they are also very practical. A Russian diplomat may join a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nepal, another ministry, or a specialized agency dealing with tourism, education or energy. Together with Nepali partners, he discusses how to make it easier and safer for tourists to travel, how to encourage more exchanges between universities, or how to mark important anniversaries of diplomatic relations through joint events. The language is formal, but the goal is simple: find concrete projects that benefit both Russia and Nepal.
Diplomacy in Kathmandu is not only about documents and protocols.It is also about culture. In the evening, the embassy’s White Hall – the main reception hall – may host a concert, a film screening, or a reception. On such nights, the hall fills with music, voices and many personal stories. One of the regular guests is the Association of Nepali alumni of Soviet and Russian universities, Mitra Kunj. Its members studied in cities from Lugansk to Vladivostok. Today they are doctors, engineers, teachers, researchers and civil servants in Nepal. When they gather in the White Hall, they talk about student dormitories and winter in Russia, about their mentors and about how their education helped them serve their own country.
For a Russian diplomat, these evenings are perhaps the clearest illustration of what long-term cooperation really means. Diplomatic notes and agreements are important, but it is people who carry the relationship forward. When a Nepali doctor tells him that he used Russian textbooks at university, or an engineer explains how experience from Russia helped to design a project in the Himalayas, the abstract words “bilateral relations” turn into something very real.
Diplomatic life in Kathmandu also has a family dimension. Many diplomats come to Nepal with spouses and children. The younger ones attend the school at the embassy, where they follow Russian educational standards. Parents bring them to school on their way to work. These children celebrate Russian holidays and learn Russian history, but they also grow up seeing stupas and temples, hearing the Nepali languagearound them and knowing local festivals. In this sense, they too become small bridges between the two countries.
In the twenty-first century, working with the media has become an integral part of diplomatic routine. The Embassy of the Russian Federation in Nepal regularly interacts with Nepali journalists through press briefings, interviews and special media interaction programs. During such meetings, a Russian diplomat does not read out long statements. Instead, he answers questions, clarifies positions, and listens carefully to the concerns and interests of Nepali media professionals. This dialogue helps to ensure that coverage of Russia-Nepal relations is based on accurate information, even when views and interpretations may differ.
The working day of a diplomat rarely ends when the office doors close. In Kathmandu, evenings can bring unexpected calls. A flight has been delayed, and passengers need assistance with documents. A trekking group has decided to change its route, and families are looking for updated information. Time zones are unforgiving, and sometimes a request from Moscow arrives just when the city is getting ready to sleep. On such nights, the light in the embassy building may burn a little longer than usual. For the diplomat inside, it is a reminder that his responsibilities are not limited by office hours or by the city’s daily rhythm.
If one were to draw a single line through all these episodes – the morning news, the consular cases, the meetings with Nepali institutions, the cultural evenings, the school drop-offs and the late-night calls – it would be the word “bridge”.
A Russian diplomat in Kathmandu spends his day helping Russians and Nepalis meet, talk, cooperate and solve problems together. He is, in a very practical sense, a bridge between two societiesthat live thousands of kilometersapart but share common interests and increasingly many personal connections.
In many ways, this quiet, everyday work is what gives real meaning to the seventy years of diplomatic relations between Russia and Nepal. On 10 February, Russia celebrates Diplomatic Workers’ Day, a professional holiday for those who serve abroad and at home. For the Russian diplomat based in Kathmandu, this day is not about formal ceremonies.
It is a quiet reminder that his daily work – often unnoticed by the broader public – contributes to something larger than any individual career: a stable, respectful and human relationship betweenRussia and Nepal.
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