Ministry of Defence (Nepal)


The Ministry of Defence is governmental body in Nepal that formulates defence policies and coordinates defence affairs with other agencies of the government and the Nepal Army. The present defence minister is Ishowor Pokhrel.

Origin

The origin and evolution of the defence administration of modern Nepal dates back to the unification of Nepal in 1770. From the foundation to until popular movement, the defence administration was directly overseen by the Crown itself.
Before 1950, there was no division of duties between the Ministry and the Army headquarters. The Commander-in Chief and the Senior Commanding General between themselves dealt with the whole range of administration and policy regarding defence. For the first time in the history of Nepal, a separate ministry by the name of Defence Ministry was set up in the interim Government of 1950 headed by Prime Minister Mohan Shumsher. The first Defence Minister was Babar Shumsher. The organizational structure of the Defence Ministry at the time was quite simple having only two branches, Viz. General and Budget. The Ministry had a secretary, two deputy secretaries, and two assistant secretaries. Since then the ministry has undergone continuous evolution and assumed the present structure.
The Ministry of Defence was established to protect and defend the nation and the people from internal instability and external threats by ensuring the sovereignty, national independence and integrity of the country.

Top Executive Involved

According to Business Regulation 2063, the Ministry of Defense is responsible for following functions:
Ministry of Defence is established as per Government of Nepal Business Allocation Rules, 2069 with the objective of managing and operating national defence affairs. The Ministry is responsible for maintaining internal as well as external security in order to safeguard the national sovereignty and territorial integrity. Besides its primary responsibility of external security, it is also responsible for maintaining internal law and order by protecting the lives and properties of the people as per the derisory of the government. In this context the principal task of the Defence Ministry is to make policy directions on defence and security matters and communicate them for implementation to the Nepalese Army and its various service departments. Besides, the MoD also acts as a liaison or contact point for communication and interaction for Nepal Army with other Ministries and Departments.

Former Ministers of Defense

This is a list of all ministers of Defense since the Nepalese Constituent Assembly election in 2013:
NamePartyAssumed OfficeLeft Office
1Interim Prime Minister Khil Raj Regmiindependent25 February 201411 February 2014
2Prime Minister Sushil KoiralaNepali Congress25 February 201412 October 2015
3Bhim Bahadur RawalCommunist Party of Nepal 5 November 20141 August 2016
4Bal Krishna KhandNepali Congress26 August 201631 May 2017
5Bhimsen Das PradhanNepali Congress26 July 201615 February 2018
6Ishwor PokharelCommunist Party of Nepal until 17 May 2018
Nepal Communist Party from 17 May 2018		26 February March 2018