Envoy Lucky Sherpa could not meet the foreign minister and foreign secretary Sunday as they were busy in the inter-provincial council meeting.

KATHMANDU, Dec 10: Nepali ambassador to Australia Lucky Sherpa, who was instructed to furnish clarification on her alleged involvement in human trafficking, reported to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) on Sunday.

MoFA officials said although ambassador Sherpa visited the ministry on Sunday she could not meet Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali and Foreign Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi. Both Minister Gyawali and Secretary Bairagi were busy in the inter-province council meeting held at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers since 11 am Sunday.

Officials said ambassador Sherpa is likely to meet Minister Gyawali and Secretary Bairagi on Monday and furnish clarification on the charges made against her. But as the inter-provincial council meeting is scheduled to continue even on Monday, her meeting with them looks uncertain.

Earlier, MoFA had sought clarification from Sherpa on the human trafficking allegation made by her official driver. She was summoned to the ministry after her explanation was not found satisfactory, sources said.

Ambassador Sherpa had courted controversy after the envoy's former official driver publicly alleged that she was involved in human trafficking. Wongchhu Sherpa, in an interview with a private television channel in Kathmandu recently, accused her and her husband of engaging in human trafficking. He claimed that he was forced to pay several million rupees to her husband to go to Australia.

Earlier, the main opposition party, Nepali Congress (NC) had criticized the government for failing to launch probe into the incident. The party had asked the government to relieve Sherpa from her post if she was found guilty in the incident.

Some ruling party lawmakers had also demanded her resignation following the controversy.

 
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