Nepal will lose its identity under maoists' pressure: Rajnath

New Delhi, May 26 (UNI) BJP president Rajnath Singh today apprehended that Nepal would lose its identity if the new government acts under Maoists' pressure.

Mr Singh, during his meeting with a four-member delegation led by Nepal's former Foreign Minister Charka Bastola, welcomed the formation of the government by the seven-party alliance and expressed the hope that normalcy would return to the Himalayan State.

''The BJP would not like a situation where Nepal loses its identity under pressure from Maoists,'' he said, and added that any peace talks or power sharing with the Maoists would prove futile if they do not shun violence.

''Though the Maoists had announced a ceasefire, they were not following it and were busy in the recruitment to the People's Liberation Army and extortion, giving an impression that they were consolidating their position like in the past,'' he said.

The BJP president also wanted the 1953 Indo-Nepal Treaty to be the base for the relationship between the two countries notwithstanding pressure from certain quarters to scrap it.

He said the age-old strong bilateral ties between the two neighbours must remain cordial and intact.

Besides Mr Bastola, Nepali Congress Working Committee members Dr Shekhar Koirala and Mr Arjun Narasingha and Secretary General of South Asia Foundation Rahul Barua were part of the delegation. BJP vice-president Bal Apte was also present during the meeting.

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