A delegation led by UCPN (Maoist) Office Secretary B.K. Shrestha submitted the memorandum.[break]
The memo signed by party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal reads: We hope and expect that the Indian government will take the letter seriously and consider building friendly ties between the two countries through a new dimension by rectifying these sorts of errors.
In the letter, Dahal has emphasized that the protection of national sovereignty, geographical integrity and independence is the top priority of the party.
In the run-up to the fourth round of election on Aug. 2, Sharma had claimed that an Indian embassy staffer Subrato Das issued death threats against him and also warned that his daughter, who is an 11th grader at the embassy-run Kendriya Vidhalaya school, would be suspended.
Maoist Vice-chairman Narayan Kaji Shrestha said that though some senior leaders wanted to meet with the envoy to hand over the memo, Ambassador Rakesh Sood avoided them. The memo was accepted by head of political division of the Indian embassy.
“Maoist Foreign Department Chief Krishna Bahadru Mahara and spokesperson Dinanath Sharma wanted to meet the envoy,” Shrestha told Republica.
Asked to comment, Apoorva Srivastav, the spokesperson for the Indian embassy, said, “Yes, we have received a memorandum from the UPCN (M).”
She said that during the meeting with UPCN-M representatives who had come to submit the memorandum, the embassy conveyed “deep and sincere condolences” on the sad demise of Ram Kumari Yadav, CA member from UPCN (M) who expired in Delhi while undergoing treatment at Safdurjung Hospital, where her treatment had been facilitated by the Indian embassy as requested by the UPCN (M).
“The embassy also conveyed that while the embassy was willing to respond positively to Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kumar Dahal´s call to strengthen relations between his party and India, giving undue publicity and presenting to the media in a distorted manner the false and baseless allegations against a senior member of the diplomatic staff at the embassy was hardly conducive to fostering better relations,” Srivastav said.
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