Kathmandu: A week after Nepalese
government scrapped a contract to an Indian government agency
of making machine readable passports, the country`s Deputy
Prime Minister Saturday described it as a "blunder", indicating a
rift in the coalition government on the issue.
"We committed a blunder by cancelling the contract
without waiting for the verdict of the Supreme Court," Sujata
Koirala, also the country`s Foreign Minister said and demanded
that Kathmandu should express regrets to New Delhi over it.
We should express "a sense of sorrow" to India for
whatever happened on the passport issue," Koirala told a
delegation of Reporters Club Nepal at her residence, as she
conveyed her displeasure over the issue.
The Supreme Court had issued an Interim stay on the
printing of the Machine Readable Passport in response to two
separate writ petitions filed in this regard.
However, the apex court is yet to deliver its final
verdict on the matter.
"By ignoring the case that is in the Court would not
convey a good message at the diplomatic level," she pointed
out.
"The cabinet had decided to award the contract to an
Indian company and the same cabinet cancelled the decision,
which is absurd," she said.
Nepal government should express regret to government
of India over the issue of cancelling the contract so that the
it would not adversely affect the bilateral relations between
the two countries, she pointed out.
Indian Embassy has already expressed its displeasure
over the government`s decision to cancel the contract for
printing the passport.
PTI
