Updated: October 23, 2020 7:37:07 am
Nepalese embattled Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli came under further attack on Thursday for meeting with R&AW Indian chief Samant Kumar Goel without keeping them informed. (File photo)
Nepal’s beleaguered Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli came under further attack on Thursday, including three former prime ministers and the leaders of his own party, for meeting with the Indian head of R&AW, Samant Kumar Goel, without keeping them abreast.
Former Prime Ministers Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, who is also Executive Chairman of the ruling Communist Party of Nepal, Jhalanath Khanal and Madhav Kumar Nepal, who called it “improper” and “reprehensible”, Former Deputy Prime Ministers Bhim Bahadur Rawal and Narayan Kaji Shrestha Group meetings broke up, and some took to social media to criticize Oli. They asked him to provide details of the meeting with the head of R&AW that lasted more than two hours, almost until midnight on Wednesday.
Goel and his team had flown to Kathmandu on a special flight. They were said to have also met opposition leader Sher Bahadur Deuba, former Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai and Madhes-based leader Mahantha Thakur separately during their nearly 24-hour stay in Nepal, where there is new political unrest.
The visit by the head of R&AW, ahead of the scheduled visit by the head of the Indian army, General MM Naravane, next month, comes at a time when India and Nepal are trying to repair ties, severely strained after the escalation of the dispute. border and Nepal’s publication of a map this summer to include areas of the Indian state of Uttarakhand.
Prachanda is known to have told his supporters that, although he has a responsibility to keep party unity intact, Oli’s “misdeeds” may force him to criticize the government.
“Such a meeting, which keeps the party and the ministry in question in absolute obscurity, requires an explanation from the prime minister,” Prachanda said at a meeting that included two ministers.
Khanal and Madhav Nepal, it is known, also said that such a meeting between the Prime Minister and the head of R&AW “clandestinely was detrimental to the national interest.”
Meanwhile, the prime minister’s press adviser, Surya Thapa, said Goel had a “courtesy meeting” with Oli. He said that Goel had underlined the smooth relations between Nepal and India, solving outstanding issues through dialogue and continued mutual cooperation. He did not elaborate.
Former Foreign Minister and member of the PNC central secretariat, Narayan Kaji Shrestha, wanted to know the nature of Goel’s visit, whether it was in a personal or official capacity, and the agenda for the discussion with the Prime Minister.
Bhim Bahadur Rawal, a former defense minister and a member of the party’s standing committee, said the timing and form of the meeting “were not appropriate.”
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