-- Embassy breached diplomatic norms in Saran visit
-- Don´t give recognition to any envoy who bypasses MoFA
KATHMANDU, Aug 10: The parliamentary committee on International Relations and Human Rights has directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) to take initiative toward declaring the Indian Embassy official who allegedly threatened parliamentarian Ram Kumar Sharma persona non grata and order him to leave the country.
Also the parliamentary committee has instructed the ministry to take initiative to make the Indian Embassy apologize over the matter. [break]
The committee took the decision after quizzing Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala at Singha Durbar on Tuesday.
The committee summoned Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and Koirala at the meeting after parliamentarian Sharma filed a complaint at the Parliament Secretariat demanding that the government make security arrangement for his safety. He said Subrata Das, consular officer at the embassy, had threatened to abduct him and finish off his political career. The prime minister however didn´t attend the meeting.
"This committee directs the ministry to take initiative, after investigation, to declare the guilty official of the embassy persona non grata and ask him to leave the country and make the embassy apologize on the matter," reads the directive issued by the committee.
The decision was taken after a majority of 20 members, who spoke at the meeting, demanded that the official be declared persona non grata and be expelled from the country.
"This is simply intolerable. I demand that this committee direct the government to make the Indian ambassador apologize and send the concerned official back to his country," said UCPN (Maoist) Vice-Chairman Narayankaji Shrestha.
Former Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand termed the episode as shameful conduct by a diplomat while Santa Bahadur Nepali described it as hateful. Other parliamentarians demanding action against the official include Radha Gyawali, Ram Sahaya Prasad Yadav, Mohammadi Siddiqi, Sunil Babu Panta, Chandrika Yadav, Gauri Mahato Koiri, Suresh Ale Magar, Lucky Sherpa, Tej Bahadur Mijar, Ramananda Mandal, Bharat Sah, Ramprit Paswan, Renu Chand and Binda Pandey. Many lawmakers fiercely criticized Koirala for remaining silent on the issue.
The meeting also drew the conclusion that Indian Embassy breached diplomatic norms while making arrangement for the visit by Indian prime minister´s special envoy Shyam Saran last week. While responding to the queries fielded by lawmakers, Minister Koirala at the meeting said that the ministry was not informed about Saran´s Nepal visit. During his two-day trip, he visited President Dr Ram Baran Yadav, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and chiefs of all major political parties including other key personalities in Kathmandu.
"This meeting concludes that visiting Nepal without giving any prior information to the government is inappropriate," it said. Urging the head of the government, political party leaderships and top officials to not give recognition to the representatives who visit Nepal bypassing the foreign ministry, the committee has also directed the government to ensure that such incidents do not repeat in future.
Koirala said she would take the feedback received from lawmakers seriously.
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