Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has stopped Foreign Minister Bimala Rai Paudyal’s visit to Geneva.

According to Paudyal’s press advisor Yashodha Adhikari, Prime Minister Dahal made a phone call asking the foreign minister not to leave for Geneva.

Paudyal was scheduled to leave for Switzerland on Sunday evening to participate in the 52nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council slated for February 27 to March 17.

“The foreign minister will not be going to Geneva as Prime Minister Dahal, through a phone call, asked the minister to cancel the visit,” Adhikari told the Post, quoting Foreign Minister Paudyal.

The visit of Paudyal, a minister from CPN-UML who would be leading the Nepali delegation, was called off by the prime minister following the formation of a new coalition of eight parties on Friday for the upcoming presidential election.

The relations between Dahal’s CPN (Maoist Centre) and another ruling party CPN-UML have soured after Dahal forged an alliance with the Nepali Congress for the presidential election and supported the Congress candidate while the CPN-UML has fielded its own candidate for the top post.

Nepal is a member of the Human Rights Council.