While the country mourns the death of the Jajarkot earthquake victims, President Ram Chandra Poudel is all set to embark on his Europe trip on Wednesday. A cabinet meeting on Thursday approved the 10-day long foreign trip of President Poudel. He is all set to visit the European countries including France, Germany and Italy on the scheduled date in which a hefty sum will be spent at a time when the country is receiving a large amount of money from various fronts for the rescue operation and relief materials.  The earthquake of magnitude 6.4 had jolted Jajarkot at 11:47 PM on Friday night, severely affecting the remote hill district as well as neighboring Rukum West. So far, the natural disaster has claimed more than 157 lives while an equally large number of people are left injured. President Poudel himself issued his prompt statement on Saturday morning, drawing attention of the government to make a quick move towards rescue operation and distribution of reliefs. However, he did not mention anything about his next week’s foreign visit. As a newspaper, we believe that the scheduled visit of President Poudel is ill-timed and he should consider rescheduling the visit, unless the visit is deemed extremely essential to promote Nepal's national interests, in view of the changed circumstances in the country due to the tragedy brought about by the earthquake in western Nepal.

We are not alone to make this call. Analysts have maintained that the president’s visit at this very moment of crisis cannot be considered appropriate. They maintained that the president's apathy will invite a wide criticism globally. The visit of the president not only brings his absence of the head of the state in the country but also incurs a huge amount of money from the state coffers. This does not send a good message across the country at a time of national crisis. Such a move of the president will not create better views towards the country’s practices both in the domestic and international arena. Apart from President Poudel, two ministers and a state-minister of the government are also in the fray for foreign junkets next week. Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Purna Bahadur Khadka will be leading Nepali team in the ‘Dubai Air Show 2023’ to be held in the UAE. Likewise, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Ramesh Rijal is leaving for Shanghai, China to participate in the 6th China International Import Expo. Minister of State for Education, Science and Technology Pramila Kumari Yadav will be leading Nepali team to participate in ‘The Belt and Road Conference on Science and Technology Exchange’ being organized in Ching Cheong, China on November 6-7.   

The role of the head of the state, prime minister or cabinet ministers as well as other government officials when traveling abroad is to represent their country and engage in diplomatic relations with other countries. During their meetings with the foreign counterparts, they seek to promote bilateral relations and explore areas of further cooperation. They serve as an important aspect of a country's foreign relations. However, the timing is equally important when such visits are made. When the head of the state embarks on a visit for over 10 days leaving the country struggling to provide relief and rescue measures to the earthquake survivors, this certainly does not send a positive message at home and in the host country. In this connection, we also see the impending visit of two other cabinet ministers ill-timed. What makes everyone surprised is rather unchecked visits of our ministers and government officials for a meeting that have little or no significance for the country's well-being even when the government announces to have adopted a slew of austerity measures to tackle the troubled economic situation in the country. This calls for the government to walk the talk. We urge President Poudel to reconsider his visit and send a positive message that all the state machinery including the head of the state are with the victims at his hour of national crisis. The amount to be spent for the logistical arrangement of his visit would help heal the wounds of a large number of earthquake victims who are forced to live under the open sky and struggle to make their ends meet.

 
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