Click to play videoNew Delhi: Sacked Indian envoy to New Zealand, Harish Dogra, who has been staying illegally in that country, has been asked to leave by Wellington, New Zealand High Commissioner to India Graeme Waters revealed on Saturday.
"Harish Dogra is staying illegally in New Zealand and is not welcome in that country," says New Zealand's representative in India. But this has not affected New Zealand's diplomatic relations with India, he added.
"Dogra has the same rights as every other private person. But you'll be aware that the government has taken a position and it has a strong expectation that he will eventually return home," Waters said.
"Our government has made it very clear that it would strongly want him to return to his country," he added.
Waters did not given any details on Dogra's legal moves. He said it was a private matter between him (Dogra) and the immigration authorities.
Dogra, meanwhile, has five weeks in hand to appeal against his removal. He can also apply for asylum, in which case he will get another six-to-eight months, by which time Shyam Saran may have retired as foreign secretary. Dogra has accused Shyam Saran of carrying out a vendetta against him.
New Zealand, however, is unlikely to oblige him with that kind of a time-frame.
In a similar incident, Wellington recently denied permission to a junior Korean diplomat, who had sought asylum after being charged with a crime back home.
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