The committee issued a directive to this effect as a majority of CA members represented on the committee raised serious concern over India´s “ill-intention” in training the MoFA officials in a “group” just when they had so recently joined the civil service.[break]
Arguing that the country´s Institute of Foreign Affairs, which has provided officials with preliminary orientation and has even trained foreign diplomats in the past, was capable of training the staffers, the committee said the MoFA officials also can receive quality training within the country.
The committee members further said they were alarmed at the proposal to train the MoFA officials in a group and that too without any participation from other countries.
“It could have been appropriate if they were being trained along with other international participants and in a small number,” said CPN (UML) lawmaker Brinda Pandey.
The committee also suggested to the government that if such a big number of MoFA officials were in need of training, resource persons from other countries could be invited here for the purpose.
However, prior to the committee´s decision, Nepali Congress lawmaker Nabindra Raj Joshi had posted a differing view, saying that if a decision was taken to stop the MoFA officials for being trained in India, it would set a bad precedent.
“How will our national integrity be at stake in merely sending officials for short-term training in India?” questioned Joshi, adding “The decision, if taken, will be impractical.”
Earlier, on December 23, 2010, the committee had asked MoFA to state the reasons behind the decision to send officials in a group for training in India. It had mainly asked the ministry to furnish details about the training curriculum and whether such training was possible within the country itself.
However, in the reply the ministry sent to the committee on December 29, 2010, it failed to furnish the detailed curricula, saying it had not been provided with one as the training was of a short-term nature. MoFA was also tight-lipped over whether such training was possible within Nepal.
India had proposed to MoFA that the Foreign Service Institute of India would offer the 10-day [May 23-June 2] Intensive Special Professional Course for Foreign Diplomats (SPCFD) to the 28 officials.
It had said the officials would be trained in diplomatic protocol, techniques of negotiation, the workings of regional and international organizations (UN, NAM, WTO, SAARC and BIMSTEC), currents trends in international relations and the multi-faced relations between Nepal and India.
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