Highly placed government sources said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) recently wrote to the Indian embassy, asking it to immediately close the office. [break]MoFA has maintained that the office, which was opened to facilitate vehicular movement through Indian territory when a section of road on the Nepal side was disrupted by the flood, is no longer necessary.
Officials said MoFA decided to write again to the Indian embassy as there was no response to a letter sent in January, 2011. “We have categorically directed the Indian embassy to immediately close the office as it was no longer necessary,” said a senior official at MoFA. “We are surprised at the Indian side dilly-dallying in closing the office even after our directives.”
The Indian embassy had opened a ´field office´ near Koshi Barrage to provide ´permits´ to Nepalese vehicles in the aftermath of a breach in the Koshi embankment at Kushaha, Sunsari district on August 18, 2008. Officials said the office was relocated to Biratnagar without consent from MoFA after the broken road section was repaired a few months later.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha confirmed MoFA´s directive. “We have asked through diplomatic channels for closure of the office since its relevance has already ended,” he said.
Apart from its embassy in Kathmandu, India has a consulate general in Birgunj.
Recently, then Indian Consul General S D Mehta had organized a cocktail party in Birgjunj and reportedly asked the guests to bring about ´a storm´ in Madhes before May 27, 2012 -- the deadline for promulgating a new statute.
This attempt to unduly influence political leaders had drawn huge protest in various parts of the country after it became public through media the next day, and there were even demands for Mehta´s immediate expulsion from the country.
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