Indian foreign secretary to visit Nepal

REPUBLICA

KATHMANDU, Jan 17: Indian foreign secretary Nirupama Rao is arriving in Kathmandu Tuesday on a three-day visit, the first by a high-ranking Indian official this year, to urge Nepal´s warring parties to reach an agreement and give fresh momentum to the peace process, according to Times of India.

India, which became a member of the UN Security Council from Jan 1, is pleased that Nepal´s ruling alliance and the opposition Maoist party managed to put aside their differences and ink an agreement that paved the way for a smooth handover of the tasks of the UN Mission in Nepal to a special committee headed by Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal.

UNMIN exited from the peace process in Nepal from Jan 15 midnight, after nearly five years´ involvement, and public fears that the Maoist army would run berserk once freed from UNMIN´s supervision or that the national army would affect a coup, were allayed by the new agreement. India now hopes the parties will be able to meet the task set by President Ram Baran Yadav - form an all-party government by Friday.

With the three major parties - the UCPN (Maoists), Nepali Congress and communists - still keen to lead the new government, Rao´s visit is likely to focus on compromises. But while the Nepali Congress, India´s old ally, may heed it and seek to stifle the intra-party leadership tussle between former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and the party´s proposed PM candidate Ram Chandra Poudel, Rao would have to wield an extra velvet glove to deal with the Maoists.

The Maoist leadership has announced it would once again stake claim to the new government. Despite the other parties´ refusal to accept Maoist chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal as the new prime minister, the former revolutionary still remains the prime Maoist candidate. His conflict with his deputy, former finance minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai, has been increasing, especially after Bhattarai made two trips to India this year and claimed the visits had improved Maoists´ ties with the Indian leadership.

There were also reports that Bhattarai, Monday skipped a crucial training program for Maoist cadre started nationwide after Dahal agreed to include the dissenting view of another deputy, Mohan Vaidya, in the party program but ignored Bhattarai´s version. According to Times of India, the Dahal camp is wary that India is backing Bhattarai as the new premier and Rao´s meetings with the former rebels would be crucial for the India-Maoist relationship.

Rao will meet her Nepali counterpart, Dr Madan Kumar Bhattarai, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, President Ram Baran Yadav, parliament chairman Subash Nembang and leaders of the Terai parties.