Kathmandu, Nov 21 (IANS) A day after the car of an Indian diplomat was stoned by a mob in Kathmandu, the Indian embassy here tried to downplay the incident Friday, saying that it was not a specific “attack on an Indian diplomat or Indian interests or property in Nepal”.The embassy said it would not lodge any protest with the foreign ministry in Nepal and that the incident should be viewed in the context of the general strike called on Thursday that had crippled the capital.

On Thursday, a civil society group backed by cadres of the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (UML) - a member of the Maoist-led coalition government, and the main opposition party - the Nepali Congress of former prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala, had called a general strike in Kathmandu valley to protest the alleged killing of two young men by the Maoists.

Several vehicles were attacked by mobs who patrolled the streets to enforce the closure.

S.K. Joshi, the head of chancery at the Indian embassy, faced an irate mob while going to work in the morning. Though he was not injured in the stone throwing, the car was damaged.

In separate incidents, protesters also stoned an ambulance and a UN vehicle though all such vehicles are allowed safe passage during strikes and other disturbances.