Let India play role to conclude peace: Dahal

KATHMANDU, SEP 25 - UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Sunday stressed that India should once again play a positive role to conclude Nepal's peace process.

“India had played a supportive role during the signing of the 12-point agreement,” said Dahal, speaking at a programme in the Capital organised by Mustang-Katmandu liaison office of Nepal-India Human Development and Friendship Association. “India should play such role one more time to conclude the peace process.”

Saying that his party has become flexible in the twin tasks of peace and statute drafting, Dahal alleged that the Nepali Congress (NC) and the CPN-UML have been making the processes complex.

He opined that an agreement similar to the 12-point should be forged to take the NC and the UML into confidence. The 12-point understanding led to the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that brought the Maoists to the mainstream politics. Dahal stressed the need for forging an understanding among parties that prevailed prior to the election of the Constituent Assembly. He also said that both Nepal and India should consider each other's sensitivities and said that relations with India need to be as that during the signing of the 12-point accord. He added that the 12-point pact would not have been possible without India's cooperation.   

The Maoist chief said his party itself would unilaterally conclude the peace and statute-writing processes even if other parties do not come to terms. However, he stressed that such a move may not fulfill the stated objective.

Addressing the programme, Madhesi Janadhikar Forum-Nepal Chairman Upendra Yadav said that the Maoist party and Dahal in particular would be blamed if the peace process was not concluded.

 “The government is led by the Maoist party, the combatants belong to it and Dahal, who signed the Comprehensive Peace Accord, is also a Maoist leader,” said Yadav. “And if the peace process is delayed, the blame goes to the Maoists.”

The other speakers included NC leader Ram Saran Mahat, UML politburo member Surendra Pandey and Maoist leader Krishna Bahadur Mahara. Similarly, Indian Ambassador to Nepal Jayant Prasad stressed on the cordial bilateral relations and said that areas of cooperation including climate change could be explored. Indian MPs P K Thungan--former chief minister of Arunanchal Pradesh--Kunwar Akhilesh Singh and Prof Alka Balram Kshatrya had expressed their views on the occasion. Singh said that South Asian countries should have a Saarc Parliament in line with the EU Parliament and that it should be located in Nepal. Indian leaders underscored the need to strengthen the bilateral relations and vowed to work in that direction.

Posted on: 2011-09-25 05:38

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