Speaking to Nagarik daily on Monday, Dr Yadav said he was keen to attend either the opening or the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games. [break]
"I cannot decide on my trip; it is the government which does so," the president said. "I was surprised to know from news reports that the then prime minister (Dahal) had decided to go to Beijing even while I was awaiting government´s nod."
Dahal had highlighted -- and has still been raising in public rallies -- the incident about the president´s inability to attend the Olympics under "Indian pressure". The Maoist chairman has tried to portray his image as someone who "defied" Indian pressure to visit India first, a gesture maintained by all Nepali prime ministers. However, upon his return from the Olympic Games, Dahal said his "first political visit" would be only to India.
The president further said that he had been invited by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) before the opening ceremony. His office, he added, was consulting with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs whether to accept the IOC invitation or whether the Chinese government would also send an invite.
The president had been informed by the Nepali Embassy in Beijing that the Chinese government was keen to invite the first president of Nepal to the Olympics. "I was very eager to attend the Games but I was surprised to get a call from Prime Minister Dahal from the airport telling me that he was going to Beijing."
The Office of the President wanted to set a tradition whereby the prime minister needed to pay a courtesy call to the president to "brief" him about his foreign visit. This was not to be as Dahal telephoned the president from the airport. "I am going to China to attend the Olympics, and I could not get time to meet you since I was busy in visiting the areas affected by Koshi flood," the president recalled his conversation with the former prime minister.
During his controversial speech at New Baneshwar on December 20 last year, Dahal had claimed the president buckled under Indian pressure and so he decided to go to China instead. The following day, one of Dr Yadav´s advisors challenged Dahal´s claim, saying it was not true.
This is the first time the president has broken his silence on Dahal´s claim.
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