MEA summons Nepal Ambassador over attack on Indian envoy

New Delhi/Kathmandu, Oct.23 (ANI): Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) summoned Nepal's Ambassador to India Rukma Shumsher Rana here on Saturday to seek explanation over the Solukhumbu incident when some Maoist cadres misbehaved with Indian Ambassador to Nepal Rakesh Sood.

On Oct.6, irate Maoist cadres had greeted Rakesh Sood with black flags, while one of them hurled a shoe at a team of visiting Indian Embassy officials.

According to the Kathmandu Post, during their meet with Rana, Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and Joint Secretary Satish Mehta expressed their dismay over the incident, calling it a "gross violation of diplomatic norms."

According to Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), Tuesday's "summon" of the Nepali envoy was only the second such incident in New Delhi in the last two decades.

The last time New Delhi took such a step in 1989 when the then Ambassador Brinda Shah was summoned over Nepal's import of arms from China.

The move had subsequently led to the infamous trade and transit impasse, a low point in Nepal-India ties. (ANI)