Kathmandu, July 24 -- At a time when the government is struggling to appoint ambassadors to 17 diplomatic missions, it has decided to extend the terms of six ambassadors who are set to retire at the end of August.

A Cabinet meeting on Wednesday decided to extend the terms of the six ambassadors until their successors are appointed, said a senior Foreign Ministry official, adding that all those receiving extensions are career diplomats.

As the ambassadorial appointment process has been delayed and is expected to take months to complete, the decision was taken to prevent more diplomatic missions from falling vacant, the official said.

Already, 17 Nepali missions are without ambassadors, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has invited app...