Minister Rana's welcome at Doha airport sparks controversy

Kathmandu, October 3 — Foreign Minister Arju Rana Deuba is currently in Doha, the capital of Qatar. After attending a meeting of women foreign ministers in Canada on September 17, Rana traveled to the United States for the United Nations General Assembly and arrived in Doha on Tuesday after completing her program there.

The Nepali Embassy in Qatar stated that she is leading the Nepali delegation at the third "Asia Cooperation Dialogue" conference.

Upon her arrival at Hamad International Airport in Doha on Tuesday, she was welcomed by Acting Ambassador Kumar Rai, First Secretary Krishna Kumar Subedi, NRN Qatar President Ramesh Bhatta, and other stakeholders.

Representatives of the Nepali community were waiting in the airport's VIP lounge to welcome her, while Acting Ambassador Rai went to the plane to greet her. However, he was unable to meet with the Foreign Minister and Secretary Sewa Lamsal. After the Acting Ambassador could not receive them, the Minister and Secretary headed toward the public area instead of the VIP lounge.

A representative of the Nepali community at the airport claimed that the Acting Ambassador could not bring the Minister and Secretary directly to the VIP lounge because he did not know them. "We were ready to welcome the Minister in the airport's VIP lounge. The Acting Ambassador had gone to the plane to pick them up, but he couldn’t meet them, and after the Minister and Secretary moved toward the public area, we couldn’t welcome them in the VIP lounge," he said.

Minister Rana arrived around 5 PM on a Qatar Airways flight and went straight to the public area after disembarking. Later, it was reported that she was in the public area, and everyone went there to welcome her, according to those representatives. They mentioned that it became an issue because the guest was not recognized.

However, First Secretary Subedi claimed that the Foreign Minister did not wish to use the VIP lounge due to national mourning caused by recent floods and landslides in Nepal. "Because the country is in a state of disaster, she traveled in a normal manner. It wasn’t because we did not recognize her or that there was any failure on our part," he said. He asserted that a brief welcome was indeed held for the Minister in the VIP lounge.

Under the Asia Cooperation Dialogue, Minister Rana addressed the ACD Business Forum.

Another representative from the Nepali community at the airport mentioned that even though they were waiting in the VIP lounge for the Foreign Minister, once they learned she had reached the public area, they all went there to welcome her.

In fact, in addition to regular conferences, separate welcome programs for the Foreign Minister were also planned by the embassy and NRN, but these were postponed, citing the ongoing disaster in the country as a reason due to fear of criticism.

NRN Qatar President Ramesh Bhatta commented that although the Minister was in Qatar, there was no meeting or program from the federation. He did not want to comment on the shortcomings at the airport.

Stakeholders in Doha have pointed out that the government’s delay in appointing an ambassador to Qatar has led to negligence in welcoming distinguished guests from Nepal. After the government recalled Ambassador Naresh Bikram Dhakal from Qatar, a new ambassador has already been sent.

The Parliamentary Hearing Committee has approved Ramesh Chandra Paudel as the new ambassador, but his appointment has not yet been finalized since the agrément has not been issued. As a result, the Nepali Embassy in Qatar is currently operating under the Acting Ambassador.