Nepal PM blocks his Foreign Minister's Geneva visit for Human Rights Council Summit
Feb 26, 2023
Kathmandu [Nepal], February 26 : Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has blocked the visit of his Foreign Minister Bimala Rai Paudyal to Geneva minutes before her departure for the airport.
The Foreign Ministry on Sunday morning had announced that Foreign Minister Paudyal will be flying to Geneva to attend the Human Rights Council summit.
"She was about to take a flight at around 6 PM (Local Time). We were departing from the Ministry for the airport in the afternoon when we received a call that her visit has been cancelled by the Prime Minister," Yasodha Adhikari, Press advisor to Foreign Minister Paudyal told ANI over the phone.
The office of the Chief Secretary hasn't issued any statement or announced the reason behind
the cancellation of the Foreign Minister's scheduled visit at the last minute. Paudyal was scheduled to leave for Switzerland on Sunday evening to participate in the 52nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council slated for February 27 to March 4.
The event comes in light of the change in the ruling coalition as Dahal became Prime Minister last December in support of CPN-UML had formed an alliance with 8 other parties Friday late night.
Foreign Minister Bimala Rai Paudyal became the Foreign Minister on recommendation
from the CPN-UML and has been representing the party in parliament.
The relations between Dahal's CPN (Maoist Centre) and another ruling party CPN-UML have soured after Dahal forged an alliance with the Nepali Congress for the presidential election and supported the Congress candidate while the CPN-UML fielded its own candidate for the top post.
