Foreign minister, secy summoned over B'desh envoy row

KATHMANDU, July 10: Parliamentary Hearing Special Committee (PHSC) has summoned Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Upendra Yadav on Wednesday for clarifying the ministry´s recent decision of recommending new ambassador to Bangladesh months before the expiry of the term of the incumbent ambassador Pradip Khatiwada.



A meeting of PHSC held at Singh Durbar on Sunday also summoned Foreign Secretary Dr Madan Kumar Bhattarai for further clarification on the ministry´s denial to receive tax amount paid by envoy Khatiwada. [break]



The meeting took the decision as it found the written clarifications furnished by the foreign ministry unconvincing. “We have summoned foreign minister and foreign secretary at our next meeting on Wednesday for further clarifications and verifications of the decisions taken by the ministry recently,” said the PHSC Chairman K B Gurung.



Earlier on June 30, the PHSC meeting had decided to stall the hearing saying that the cabinet decision to recommend a hearing for Hari Kumar Shrestha as new envoy to Bangladesh flouted a provision of the Constituent Assembly and Legislature-Parliament Regulations.



As per Clause 119 of the Regulations, the cabinet can recommend parliamentary hearing for a new envoy only after the existing ambassadorial post in question falls vacant.



The parliamentary meeting had also decided to seek clarification on the media reports that the current envoy to Bangladesh, Khatiwada, was being ´punished´ for trying to pay tax on his allowances.



In the clarification letter, the foreign ministry has said that envoy Khatiwada would not be recalled before the expiry of his term on November 13, 2011. The ministry also said Shrestha´s name was recommended to ensure timely appointment of a new envoy after Khatiwada´s term expires.



The foreign ministry argued that the recommendation was made to give continuity to diplomatic activities, facilitate implementation of organizational and policy level plans and bring about effectiveness in diplomacy.



Likewise, the ministry has clarified that the tax amount sent by envoy Khatiwada was not received as the ministry is still negotiating with finance ministry to waive the tax amount as was done in the previous years.



The foreign ministry has maintained that it is not fair to impose tax on the allowances received by Nepali diplomats serving abroad as the allowances they receive are meager compared to diplomats of other South Asian countries.

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