Nepali
Police arrest an anti-King protestor: Left: FM Pandey due in New
Delhi
India Quiet
About Pandey Visit as King's Opponents Prepare for Street Protests
By
Arun Rajnath
NEW
DELHI, March 7: India is keeping the upcoming visit of Nepal’s
Foreign Minister, Ramesh Nath Pandey, in a very low profile but
a senior Nepali diplomat said the visit had materialized after
Kathmandu received strong signals from New Delhi hinting at a
will to resolve the situation.
The
Nepalese Opposition here, nevertheless, has geared up to loud
protests when Pandey lands in New Delhi on Monday, March 7.
As
Nepal announced the three day working visit of Pandey, the underground
opponents of the King started meeting with different Indian political
leaders to lobby for more sanctions against Nepal. These opponents
wanted to meet Foreign Minister Natwar Singh before Pandey’s
visit, but they did not get an appointment.
A
senior Nepali diplomat, Press and Culture Officer of the Nepal
Embassy, Jyoti Prasad Adhikari, told the South Asia Tribune
on Sunday his Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey will try to
resolve the present standoff with India.
He
said: “As I told you earlier that the standoff between the
countries is likely to be resolved in a few days or before the
SAARC Summit, Foreign Minister’s visit to New Delhi is a
step in this direction.”
“He
would hold talks with the Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh
and Foreign Minister K. Natwar Singh to sort out differences and
to present Nepal’s outlook on the present situation,”
he added.
Mr.
Adhikari said that after getting signals from India, Nepal’s
Foreign Minister decided to visit New Delhi. “Before coming
to New Delhi, Mr. Pandey had telephonic conversation with his counterpart
a few days back. It was a courtesy talk, but it paved the path
for further deliberations”.
On
the other hand, the Indian Foreign Ministry has been officially
quiet about the visit and MEA spokesmen have decided to keep mum
but an Indian Embassy spokesman in Kathmandu, Sanjay Verma, said
the visit was taking place at the request of Pandey.
Nepal’s
underground leadership has already planned protests against the
visit. On the occasion of Nepali religious festival of the ‘Shivratri’,
the underground leaders will launch their renewed protest. The
festival coincides with Foreign Minister Pandey’s visit.
Hridayesh
Tripathi, an opposition leader, told the South Asia Tribune
that they have met several Indian political leaders in India urging
them not to change its stand on the abrogation of democracy and
suspension of military aid.
“It
is time India should directly reject all requests of Nepal. We
appeal the Government of India not to be lenient otherwise the
restoration of democracy will further be jeopardized,” he
added.
Mr.
Tripathi said: “Instead of coming to terms with the Monarchy,
India should impose more sanctions against it, such as freezing
of bank accounts of the collaborators and pro-Monarchy political
leaders. We wanted to meet the Prime Minister and specially, the
Foreign Minister, but in vain.”
A
source at the MEA confirmed that the underground leaders wanted
to see the Indian Foreign Minister prior to Nepal’s Foreign
Minister, but were refused an appointment which clearly shows
that the Government of India is not in the mood to make further
commitments before listening to Nepal’s Foreign Minister.
Underground
leaders have met Indian Law Minister Hansraj Bharadwaj, former
Prime Minister Chandrashekhar and Inder Kumar Gujral, and BJP
leader Sushma Swaraj so far. On the other hand former Nepali Prime
Minister G.P. Koirala’s daughter Sujata Koirala has called
on Delhi Congress Chief Prem Singh to garner support against the
Monarchy and to pressurize the Central government.
Talking
to the South Asia Tribune, Sujata Koirala severely criticized
the Monarchy. She said: “King Gyanendra is a thug. He is
a smuggler. You go and see at the Tribhuvan Airport in Kathmandu,
you will see with your own eyes how the RNA personnel and government
officials are involved in smuggling under the patronage of the
Monarchy.”
“I
demand of the Indian Government to freeze all bank accounts, and
it should probe how many Nepali accounts are here in India to
take actions against the Monarchy. They are taking away Nepal’s
wealth abroad,” she alleged.
The
CPI-M has also taken a tough stand on the upcoming visit on the
Nepal’s Foreign Minister. The party has cautioned the Central
Government from taking any compromising stand.
CPI-M
leader Naresh Nadeem and associate of the party organ Peoples
Democracy, said the Government of India has suspended military
aid to Nepal on the instance of the Left parties which are supporting
the Singh Government.
Talking
to the South Asia Tribune, Mr. Nadeem said: “The
basic question is the restoration of democracy. This is the minimum
thing on which the Government of India must not take a compromising
stand, and apart from that we believe that the Maoist rebellion
in Nepal has deep socio-economic roots which needs to be addressed.”
“The
Government of Nepal should start a dialogue with both the mainstream
political parties and the rebels. Without addressing the socio-economic
problems, they cannot succeed in putting down the rebellion with
the force of arms,” he added.
Naresh
Nadeem said that to pressurize Nepal, the freezing of bank accounts
is one option, but the party has not decided on this so far. “However”,
he said, “we have made one additional demand that the Government
of India must not allow any transit facility for supply of foreign
arms and ammunition to the Government of Nepal.”
