Ruling CPN has been roiled due to the meeting of Prime Minister (PM) KP Sharma Oli with Chief of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) Samant Kumar Goel.
Leaders close to CPN Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Senior Leader Madhav Kumar Nepal have called the PM's meeting with an Indian intelligence officer at Baluwatar wrong and termed it diplomatic immaturity.
"Nepal visit of RAW chief was at first denied and there was propaganda efforts to spread rumors that others met him. Such a big charade was not necessary. There would have been no damage if they said the particular person is coming," a leader close to Dahal told Setopati. "This is not just a party issue and is now an issue about the country. We have been told that the Foreign Ministry did not even know. We should not allow setting of a wrong precedent that one can do anything in this country."
The leader added that an individual cannot do anything he wishes violating the Constitution, rules and system and diplomatic norms.
"PM should meet PM. Is it diplomatically right for a staffer to meet PM? The people should be informed about this," CPN standing committee member Yuvaraj Gyawali said. "The meetings of PM elected by the people should be transparent. Serious question has been raised as to whether the PM should consider international practice in such meetings or not."
Deputy chief of the party's foreign department Ram Karki said PM Oli has acted against ideal diplomacy. He pointed that it is time for Nepal to maintain diplomatic balance after many years and this opportunity has not been utilized.
"Officials should be met at the bureaucratic level. A kind of message would have been sent if the PM had not met such a person. It would otherwise seem that big nationalistic talks are only for the political market," Karki stated. "Nepal can maintain diplomatic balance when China and Indian are both strong. But we have not been able to go as per that. This is our diplomatic immaturity."
He slammed the practice of talking ultranationalist things at times and then doing other things at others. He opined that the current meeting has not sent a message of adopting balanced foreign policy and added that the traditional Indian policy of trying to make others act favorably for them should not be accepted.
Standing committee member Bhim Rawal, a vehement critic of the government and PM, earlier took to the social media to slam the meeting.
"How PM had a dialogue with Indian intelligence RAW chief (sic) and thr time and manner the visit was made against the foreign policy directed by the Constitution of Nepal, sovereignty and self-respect, and the ideology, policy and declaration of CPN that is leading the government is objectionable," Rawal tweeted Thursday afternoon.
RAW Chief arrived in Kathmandu on an Indian Air Force plane Wednesday afternoon. PM's press advisor Surya Thapa has said he met with PM Oli at Baluwatar in the night.
RAW Chief Goel has visited PM Oli at a time when the border dispute with India has been escalating for a year. Dahal and Senior Leader Madhav Kumar Nepal have claimed that they did not meet the RAW chief.
