King gives India the royal ignore NEW DELHI: As the Kathmandu palace shut its doors on India, India's unquestioning military assistance to the Himalayan kingdom has come under a cloud. Nepal's silence has shocked India. Foreign secretary Shyam Saran said on Wednesday, "Even as I speak, there are virtually no communications. There is no way in which we are able to engage the Government of Nepal in even making a proper assessment of what is happening." Not only has there been no word from King Gyanendra's palace, Indian embassy officials in Kathmandu have drawn a blank when they tried to contact senior members of Gyanendra's circle. Even the defence attach? could not reach senior officers of the Royal Nepal Army. On Tuesday, the Indian embassy resorted to hand-delivery of the Indian reaction to arrested political leaders in Kathmandu. Some reached, others were stopped by soldiers. The clampdown on communications by the palace is partially responsible, but is a clear statement of defiance of India by Gyanendra. It has made it difficult for India to articulate the most important plank of its policy towards Nepal ? whether the military assistance which equipped the Royal Nepal Army to fight Maoists would stay. Analysts here reckon one of the reasons for the king's silence is that he is giving India time to overcome its initial anger and come round to supporting him against the Maoists. Still, India is not likely to abandon the democracy demand. And its strongest international partner is the US. The US state department's condemnation was virtually identical to India's reaction. Richard Boucher, the spokesman, said, "Nepal should make an immediate move towards the restoration of multi-party democratic institutions under a constitutional monarchy. We continue to urge the Maoists to abandon their armed struggle and to join the political mainstream through dialogue." How India will nuance the demand for democracy with the equal necessity of fighting the Maoists and preventing Nepal from collapsing into chaos will be a test of Indian diplomacy. and also read this .... http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1009571.cms