Rankin served for four years as British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and non-resident High Commissioner to the Maldives before taking up the new diplomatic assignment in Nepal, according to a statement issued by the UK Embassy in Kathmandu.
Rankin is succeeding Andrew James Sparkes, who decided to resign from British Foreign Service in early February. Sparkes had cited personal reasons behind his decision to cut short his ambassadorial stint in Nepal.
Upon his arrival in Kathmandu on Monday, Rankin said he looks forward to building on these strong foundations that exists between the people of the two countries.
"I am pleased to be here in Nepal. Our two countries share a long and close relationship, now approaching 200 years, built on the links between our people, our partnership in defense through the Gurkhas and peacekeeping operations, and our commitment to development as Nepal's largest bilateral donor. I very much look forward to building on these strong foundations during my time here," he said.
New British Embassy head in Nepal was Director, Americas in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, responsible for a network of over 30 British Embassies, High Commissions and other posts in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean prior to this diplomatic assignment in Sri Lanka.
Rankin joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1988 as a Legal Adviser and served in that capacity at the UK Mission to the UN and to the UK Mission to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. He has also served as Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy in Dublin, working on the Northern Ireland peace process, and was Her Majesty's Consul General in Boston.
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