19 Bhadra 2055. Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, ministers and a team of high-ranking government officials were coming to Nepal from Durban, South Africa via Dubai. The team had gone to participate in the 12th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement. The passports of all the members of the visiting delegation were kept by the courtesy officer Rajaram Bartaula.

Bartaula had kept the hand bag containing the passports near him while filling out the flight form at the Durban airport. But after a while, the bag containing the passports disappeared. After this, the bag was searched everywhere but was not found. The bag containing the passports had been stolen by someone. The bag contained the passports of 22 members of the visiting delegation, including the Prime Minister.

Now, how would they return to Nepal via the airports of various countries without passports? The visiting delegation was facing a big problem. The foreign ministry employees informed Prime Minister Koirala about the loss of the passports. Koirala was surprised to hear the incident. The passport was lost while flying from Durban to Johannesburg. How can I return to Nepal if my passport is lost? Koirala asked the employee how it was lost. He asked if it was left at the hotel. The employee informed him that the bag was stolen right in front of his eyes at the airport. Koirala did not get angry after hearing the details of the incident. But there was a fear that the absence of a passport would send a negative message to the Prime Minister, ministers and high-level officials of the country.

The bag contained the Prime Minister, his daughter Sujata Koirala, Finance Minister Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat, MPs Hiranyalal Shrestha, Hiradatta Bhatta, Permanent Representative to the United Nations Narendra Bikram Shah, Nepali Ambassador to Egypt and South Africa Gopinath Dawadi, Foreign Secretary Murari Raj Sharma, Acting Chief of Protocol Banamali Prasad Lakaul, the Prime Minister's personal physician Madhu Ghimire, Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mohan Krishna Shrestha and Protocol Officer Bartaula had their passports. The passports of Bishnu Raj Acharya and Narendra Raj Pokharel, who were also part of the visiting party, were not lost. They had kept their passports with them to exchange travel checks at the time, which prevented them from being stolen.

The loss of the passport was broadcast on South African radio and television within 15 minutes of the incident. But it could not be found. After that, Foreign Secretary Sharma submitted a request to the relevant African body for permission to return to Nepal, mentioning the details of the incident. Based on his letter, the African police had filed a report of the loss of the passports.

Based on that, the visiting country and the country on the way back were informed by telephone about the loss of the passport from the Durban airport. In South Africa, permission was given to stay anywhere. But in the commercial city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, only the airport was allowed. Qatar, however, gave an exemption because it was their own invitation. The Qatari hotel even exchanged the traveler's check. Unable to exchange the check elsewhere, the team members spent their expenses from the small change in their pockets.

Due to the lack of a passport, the members of the visiting team, except for the Prime Minister, had to stay at the airport for 4 hours in Dubai. There, the Prime Minister was taken to the hotel as a courtesy. The courtesy officers of the visiting country on the way used to ask their counterparts how the passport was lost. Nepalese officials had to keep repeating the details of the incident of the passport loss. The members of the visiting delegation had arrived in Nepal on the basis of the letterpad used by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Durban.

The visiting delegation had reached Qatar via Dubai. It had reached Kathmandu via Karachi. The officials participating in the delegation had said that it would have been very difficult if the Prime Minister had not been there. Kantipur published a news item based on the details of the Prime Minister's passport being lost during a foreign visit on 24 Bhada 2055 under the title 'When the Prime Minister's Passport Was Stolen'. On the same day, Kantipur published a news item under the title 'Non-Aligned Summit Very Successful: Prime Minister'.

Despite losing his passport, Prime Minister Koirala had visited Qatar on the basis of the letterpad of the foreign ministry. Koirala had met with the Prime Minister of Qatar, Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani. During the meeting, discussions were held on attracting Qatari investment in Nepal and sending workers from government agencies to provide employment to Nepalis. The Prime Minister, who arrived in Kathmandu on 23 Bhada 2055, informed that Nepali workers would get facilities as per Qatari laws under the government-level agreement between Qatar and Nepal. At that time, the government had put forward a plan to send at least 200 workers from each constituency for foreign employment every year.