According to knowledgeable officers, MoFA postponed the long-planned trip to mark Nepal Tourism Year at eleventh hour after the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoTCA) said that it was not ready to organize the three-day trip on the scheduled date. The three-day trip was scheduled from Friday to Sunday. [break]
MoFA official said the protocol section of the ministry informed some of the invitees about the postponement of the Rara-visit on Wednesday, while the remaining invitees would be informed on Thursday. The ministry had extended invitation to heads of the missions, SAARC General Secretary and the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator two weeks ago for the trip.
“We were compelled to put off the program on Wednesday after the MoTCA informed us that they decided to postpone the scheduled program as the newly appointed secretary was not immediately ready to host the program,” said the source at MoFA on condition of anonymity.
But an official involved in making arrangements for the trip told Republica that the program was put off after the MoTCA failed to get a nod at the political level.
Our understanding was that the Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Khadga Bahadur
Biswokarma had already been informed about the trip, but as he had only come to know about the program at the last hour, he simply proposed to postpone it so as to have enough time to better coordinate and organize the same trip later, said an official.
MoTCA and Nepal Tourism Board were supposed to make arrangements for the trip. As per the schedule, ambassadors were supposed to be taken to the Bardiya National Park and the Rara Lake on a three-day trip.
MoTCA officials said they should not be blamed for the postponement of the program that, foreign ministry officials say, has brought diplomatic embarrassment to the country.
“I am new and cannot comment on this issue,” said MoTCA Dr Secretary Joshi, when asked why the ministry put off the program.
MoTCA Joint Secretary Murari Karki, who was involved in the planning of the program, however, begged to differ. “We called off the program because of bad weather forecast,” Karki said.
When asked whether the program was put off due to poor coordination and lack of political clearance from Minister Biswokarma, Khadka said, “It is not true that there was no political clearance. But it is true that there was lack of coordination to some extent.”
Sources said MoFA had tried its best not to postpone the trip, saying such a decision would bring diplomatic embarrassment to the country.
“We have lost our credibility before the diplomatic community,” a disappointed official at MoFA said.
MoTCA Joint Secretary Khatri said the government is planning to organize the cancelled trip in the second week of June.
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