Some foreign affairs experts have said that some activities and meetings that were said to be against the diplomatic norms during the official visit of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal to India have exposed the apathy of the Government of Nepal in following the diplomatic protocol.
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' has included his daughter in the Indian delegation and no staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was seen in the meeting with the Indian Security Advisor, but his daughter's participation is now in the discussion.
Leader of the Opposition KP Sharma Oli had said that it was unfair to keep the family members in important meetings as diplomatic decorum was not followed in monday's meeting of the House of Representatives.
A leader close to the prime minister said the daughter, who was the prime minister's personal secretary, had attended an important meeting when government officials were not close to where they were meeting.
However, former senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who termed such an incident as unfortunate, stressed the need to follow diplomatic norms to enhance the country's respect.
Minister for Foreign Affairs NP Saud has told that his ministry has acted naturally during the Prime Minister's visit to India.
What experts say about daughter's participation in the tour team
Diplomatic experts say that it is customary to involve the husband and wife of the government or head of state in high-level visits with special status.
However, family members also attend such exchanges. In the context of Nepal, the late Girija Prasad Koirala, a five-time Prime Minister, took his daughter Sujata Koirala along with him on his official visit to India.
Gopal Bahadur Thapa, former Chief of Protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said, "When any head of government or head of state travels abroad, his wife is called the first lady. Many countries that invite their daughters also give the same status. How many times did Girija Babu take us? So that's not new. ”
Referring to pm Modi not having a wife, Thapa said, "If he had a wife, our prime minister would have stayed next to him and the prime minister's daughter would have been sitting next to modi." Just like Sujatha had lived in the past. Since it is also an international practice, there is no need to protest against it. ”
He, however, said that there was a serious problem during prime minister Prachanda's meeting with Indian Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
"It is an example that the prime minister's daughter also attended the meeting attended by Indian Security Advisor Doval and the Indian Foreign Secretary," he added. They are said to have come to meet without knowing it, but it is not possible to meet a person like the Prime Minister in this way. ”
Stating that it would not make any difference if Prime Minister Prachanda did not meet Doval without meeting Prime Minister Modi as per protocol, Thapa said it would be appropriate to meet the two prime ministers after discussions.
"But international relations are also driven by power. If the security advisor of a neighboring country like India says that he will meet, it is not practical in terms of protocol to say that he will meet only after meeting your Prime Minister. It's not always like a fakir. I don't mind my daughter staying. But the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had to be an officer to pick up the notes. ”
He said that he felt that officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should have stayed for institutional information of the country.
Why was the controversy?
According to some foreign affairs experts, Doval, modi's closest security adviser, has had a decisive influence on India's foreign policy towards Nepal in recent years.
In a ministerial role, he is also the secretary of the powerful National Security Council headed by the Prime Minister of India, which consists of important ministries and heads of all security agencies.
Haribol Gajurel, the prime minister's chief political adviser, told that the prime minister and the Indian security adviser were scheduled to hold a one-on-one meeting, but his personal secretary attended the meeting after a separate situation prevailed at the last minute.
Gajurel said, "After they arrived, they could not call others immediately. ”
However, thapa, a former chief of protocol, said that such a reply cannot be avoided on a high-level visit.
"What did the chief secretary, foreign secretary and foreign minister look at? I had to call even if it was two minutes late. I don't see much truth in the fact that the security adviser, who held such a highly sensitive position there, brought the Foreign Secretary to meet the Prime Minister of Nepal. That's a serious flaw in the protocol. If that is the case, it is a big mistake. ”
What does the government say?
Kathmandu: Foreign Minister NP Saud has said that his ministry has done proper management works during Prime Minister Prachanda's four-day visit to India.
"The Indian National Security Advisor and the Prime Minister were scheduled to meet alone. His daughter may have facilitated him as he was also his personal secretary. ”
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He, however, defended the prime minister's decision to include his daughter in the delegation.
"We all know that the prime minister's wife is ill. In the past, during the time of former Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and former President Ram Baran Yadav, daughters were included in the tour team instead of wife. ”
There has been talk in Nepal for a long time that officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should also be included during the high-level meeting.
The chief of India's external intelligence agency RAW, who came to Nepal as an envoy of Prime Minister Modi at a time when Nepal-India relations were strained due to the map conflict, met the then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli at Baluwatar till late in the night.
Although the government has decided to include foreign ministry officials in the meeting with senior diplomatic guests visiting Nepal including ambassadors of various countries, its implementation seems to be slow.
A former diplomat cited the example of then Indian Ambassador Rakesh Sood meeting Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala without submitting his certificate of office.
What could be the solution?
Opposition leader Oli has strongly raised the issue of protocol, some of his meetings in the past were also dragged into controversy.
Former Foreign Secretary Madan Kumar Bhattarai said that such incidents are not new in the context of Nepal.
- How meaningful is the meeting between Modi's powerful security administrator and The Nepali Prime Minister
- How appropriate is it for the Prime Minister of Nepal not to meet the Indian opposition leader?
- Why do the quarters who are close to the Nepalese government frequently come to Kathmandu?
"It keeps happening until we improve ourselves," he said. It may be easy to splash mud at each other, but our habits are almost the same. ”
Referring to the areas where Nepal needs to improve, he said:
- Make a small and objective delegation
- Only the people required for the formal program should be involved and there will be no visits to different cities.
- Organize one visit a year to close neighbors like India and China and it can be done on a rotational basis.
Stating that there was a need to change the current practice, he said it was the responsibility of the political leadership to take a decision in this regard.
Stating that it was "not customary in other countries" to involve family members in the prime minister's foreign visits in a way like in Nepal, he said it was not good in principle to meet alone.
Although the government has brought guidelines to organize the foreign visits of VIPs, including the President, the Prime Minister, it has been found that the size of the visiting team is much larger than that prescribed by it.
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