The ministers were responding to the queries raised by lawmakers at the Parliament´s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting. [break]
The parliamentary committee directed the ministers to investigate into the matter and to take initiatives to release the newsprint as soon as possible. PAC also directed the ministers to find out why the newsprint has been held.
The ministers who were summoned by the PAC over the issue clarified that they had come to know about the incident only after the publication reported in its papers on Wednesday and informed them in writing on Thursday.
“The newsprint would not have been stopped for so many days had the publications informed the authorities concerned immediately,” Mahat said, adding that the government is not indifferent toward such sensitive issue.
He said the government was well aware of its responsibility to protect the country´s trade and transit rights ensured by the international laws.
Mahato echoed Mahat. “Now we have taken up the issue with urgency and urged the Indian side to release the paper immediately,” Mahato said.
Also, Dr Madan Bhattarai and Puroshottam Ojha, secretaries of the ministry of foreign affairs and the ministry of commerce and supplies respectively, also briefed the parliamentary committee on the initiatives taken by the government to resolve the matter.
The publications has said that the Indian authorities have been holding up 900 tons of newsprint imported from Canada and South Korea at the Kolkata port for nearly a month without any valid reason.
Lawmakers have urged the ministers and the officials to take up the issue seriously. Ravindra Adhikari of CPN-UML and Dhan Raj Gurung of Nepali Congress (NC) said the issue was very serious not only due to its commercial aspects but also because it is directly linked to the people´s right to information.
Narayan Dahal and Keshav Nepal of UCPN (Maoist), Dipta Prakash Upadhyaya, Usha Gurung and Kamala Pant of NC, among others, urged the government to take immediate initiatives to resolve the matter.
Former foreign minister Dr Prakash Chandra Lohani expressed serious objection to the language used in the statement issued over the issue by the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu.
“It clearly shows the hegemonic tendency of the Indian embassy in Kathmandu. The ministry of foreign affairs has to summon and seek clarification for using such a threatening language,” he said.
Dr Mahat represented the ministry of foreign affairs as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sujata Koirala is on a visit abroad.
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