Delhi mission ‘in dark’ about leaders’ visits

JUL 13 - The Indian External Affairs Ministry and the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu fixed the date of Nepali leaders’ upcoming visit to New Delhi without consulting with the Nepali embassy in Delhi, said a Nepali official.

UCPN (Maoist) Chairman and former prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal is scheduled to arrive here on Tuesday. CPN-UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal, and Sher Bahadur Deuba and Ram Chandra Poudel from the Nepali Congress are expected to reach the Indian Capital within this month.

However, all the visit s were scheduled without the prior knowledge of the Nepali ambassador to India.

Nepal had appointed Deep Kumar Upadhyay as the ambassador this year after a four-year gap. Upadhyay assumed office three months ago. But the tendency of the Indian establishment to issue invitations and schedule the visit s without regard for the diplomatic agency has not changed.

“The Indian External Affairs Ministry (EAM) has hinted to us that the invitations for Delhivisit s were extended at repeated requests from the Nepali politicians themselves,” said a senior official at the Nepali embassy. “It appears that even the Foreign Ministry in Kathmandu is unaware of the schedule and the details of the visit s.”

A senior official at the EAM, who looks after Nepal affairs, said they were preparing to invite some leaders of the major political parties of Nepal. However, he hinted that the visit s were solicited by the Nepali leaders themselves. Experts have remarked that these “agenda-less” visits by Nepali politicians could be controversial, especially at a time when discussions on the first draft of the new constitution are under way in Kathmandu. Besides, the Constitution Assembly has repeatedly urged lawmakers to visit their constituencies to collect public opinion on the draft.

Upadhyay said that Nepali leaders visit ing Delhi should adhere to the diplomatic norms. “Thevisit s of former prime ministers, at the invitation of the Indian government, should not create major problems,” he added.

Meanwhile, on the Lipu-Lekh controversy that surrounds an agreement between India and China to carry out bilateral trade through the pass without taking Nepal into confidence, Ambassador Upadhyay said the issue was not a new one and had been taken seriously at the highest levels of diplomacy between the two countries.

“Lipu-Lekh is a part of Kalapani, which, with Susta, forms the two disputed territories between Nepal and India,” he said. “Foreign secretary-level discussions have already been initiated to settle the row and this has to be resolved with utmost care.”