Krishna urges Prachanda to abide by peace process commitments

Kathmandu, Jan 16 (ANI): Visiting Indian External Affairs Minister S M Krishna held a one-to-one meeting with the former Nepalese Prime Minister and the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' on Saturday evening.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the meeting was held "as part of the his (Krishna's) meetings with senior political leaders of Nepal."

During the meeting Krishna stressed the importance of rebuilding consensus among political parties in Nepal to conclude the peace process and to draft the new Constitution within a stipulated timeframe.

Krishna urged that the UCPN (Maoist) should fulfill their peace process commitments, which would enable Nepal to complete its historic transition to a multi-party and inclusive democracy.

He also conveyed his deep disappointment at the baseless attacks on India by the Maoist leadership, which vitiate the age-old and time-tested friendly relations between India and Nepal and the people of the two countries.

Krishna emphasized that such baseless propaganda has a negative impact on Indian public opinion.

Earlier this month, Prachanda blamed New Delhi of doing "naked interference" for the deepening political crisis in the country and threatened that he would lead protests against alleged encroachment of Nepalese territories by India.

Prachanda had said that he would protest against alleged unilateral construction of dams by India near the border that has led to Nepalese territory being inundated.

The Maoists have alleged that the present 22-party coalition led by Prime Minister Madhav Kumar in Nepal was formed by India's initiative and that the government is acting like a "puppet". (ANI)