Dr Karan Singh to visit Nepal as PM's Special Envoy

New Delhi, Apr 18 (UNI) Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member, Dr Karan Singh, will visit Nepal as the Special Envoy of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from tomorrow, an External Affairs Ministry spokesman said today.

Dr Karan Singh, formerly Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, who has ancestral links with the Nepalese Royals, will meet King Gyanendra to pursuade him to initiate a dialogue with political parties in the Himalayan kingdom.

He will also meet political party leaders and discuss the political situation there.

The decision to send Dr Karan Singh to Nepal was taken in view of the fast-changing political situation in the Himalayan Kingdom over the past few days, sources said adding that his royal background and close relationship with the monarchy could also help in salvaging the situation from worsening.

Dr Karan Singh has an ancestral connection with the Nepalese Royals. His wife, Yasho Rajya Lakshmi, is the grand daughter of the last Rana Prime Minister of Nepal, Maharaja Mohum Shumsher J.B.

Rana.

India is closely monitoring the situation in Nepal and has already asked King Gyanendra to hold an immediate dialogue with political parties for restoration of multi-party democracy in the Himalayan Kingdom.

India's Ambassador to Nepal, Shiv Mukherjee, met the King in Kathmandu on Sunday and conveyed to him India's concern at the situation and the immediate need for holding a dialogue with the political parties.

It was aso conveyed to the King that monarchy and the political parties needed to work together.

''We are monitoring the situation closely...The political parties and the monarchy have to work together...We have stressed the need for immediate dialogue,'' the spokesman added.

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