For now, not even confirmation by government officials that Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff had originally extended invitation to President Ram Baran Yadav is likely to change anything. Bhattarai on Sunday shot back with a statement that he is attending the conference at the invitation of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, and argued that his visit to the Rio+20 Conference as a head of the government was indispensable.[break]
"The visit to the conference is not a matter of a party or individual, but of nation as a whole," states a press statement issued by the prime minister´s office Sunday evening. "Mainly, the conference is an excellent opportunity to apprise about the problems faced by a mountainous country."
The prime minister, who is leading a 21-member delegation, argued that his visit to the conference would be important to voice developmental as well as environmental concerns of mountainous as well as Least Developed Countries (LDCs) like Nepal.
"The visit of prime minister is necessary to chair the meeting as this is being organized by Nepal. The visit is also indispensable as absence of the prime minister in the meeting would mean shying away from the responsibility and international obligations as chair of LDCs," adds the statement from the prime minister´s office.
Bhattarai also asked all parties to refrain from dragging his visit into controversy.
That may have been too late. On Sunday evening students affiliated Nepali Congress staged a torch rally in the capital Sunday evening to protest the visit. Nearly four dozen protestors were injured, including 16 seriously, as police baton charged the agitating students to disperse them, according to press statement issued by NC.
Opposition parties are also planning to stage protests at Tribhuvan International Airport, Monday afternoon and greet him with black flags.
The issue of the prime minister´s visit to Brazil also figured during a standing committee meeting of Maoists at the residence of the party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal in Lazimpat.
"Though some members argued that the prime minister should cancel the visit in view of the protests from opposition parties, majority members said the visit will provide an opportunity to meet UN secretary general and apprise him about the latest political situation in the country after the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly," said a member present in the meeting.
Nearly 150 head of the states and head of the governments were expected to participate in the conference being organized by the UN with an objective to address the environmental problems in the world. The conference marks the 20th anniversary of the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro.
As a current chair of the Global Coordinating Bureau of the LDCs, the prime minister is also scheduled to preside over two high-level side events including the one to be hosted by Nepal during the conference on ´LDCs and Rio+20, in collaboration with the government of Turkey and Belgium and the UN office of the High Representative for the LDCs, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States.
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