New Delhi
13 April 2006
The Indian envoy to New Zealand is reported to have refused to
accept his recall order, accusing the foreign secretary of "personal vendettas" and
seeking his recall on flimsy grounds.
The High Commissioner to New Zealand, Mr Harish Kumar Dogra, was reportedly given
two weeks to return to New Delhi a month ago but has refused to budge. According to
reports, he was believed to have antagonised some in New Zealand's Indian community
by refusing to issue visas for travel to India.
The government characterised his action as unbecoming of a diplomat. The spokesman
of the Ministry of External Affairs said, "Circulation of such scurrilous material is not
becoming of a senior member of Foreign Service. The Ministry of External Affairs will
deal with the matter in accordance with its well established procedures."
The government response came in the wake of the New Zealand media quoting Mr
Dogra's letter to Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran. The "Dominion Post" and "Indian
Newslink" newspapers said they had received a copy of a letter written by Mr Dogra to
Mr Saran. In the letter, Mr Dogra described the recall order as ill-advised and illegal.
"What have I been charged with, why am I being hanged without even being given an
opportunity to be heard?" read the letter dated April 10. "You have made India a laughing
stock in this part of the world. You have not only humiliated me but brought shame on
the country," he wrote.
Acording to the reports appearing in the New Zealand media, the envoy further wrote,
"On such flimsy grounds and personal vendettas are matters of State decided! Never
has any foreign secretary behaved in this manner .... You have made India a laughing
stock in this part of the world. You have not only humiliated me but brought shame on
the country," he said and called on the Foreign Secretary Saran to resign.
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