Nepal should be careful with neighbors: Dr Bhattarai

HONG KONG, March 25: UCPN (Maoist) Vice-chairman Baburam Bhattarai has said Nepal needs to be careful in managing relationships with its neighboring countries, especially India, for successful completion of the ongoing peace process.



Speaking at a seminar organized by the Institute of South Asian Studies in Singapore on Friday, Bhattarai said, “We have to carefully manage relationships with our neighboring countries if we are to successfully complete the peace process and restructure the country.” [break]



Presenting his paper entitled “Restructuring Nepal in post-conflict period: challenges and possibilities” Dr Bhattarai said, “Nepal, which lies in geo-strategic location between -China and India, can make progress only through appropriate management of its relations with the two giant neighbors.”



Stressing on the need for democratization of the Nepal Army (NA), Dr Bhattarai said the political parties that fought together to abolish monarchy must be re-united.



He said liberal democratic norms, free and fair election, press freedom and freedom of expression, right to education, employment, food security and shelter must be guaranteed in the new constitution. “A separate development model should be adopted for the overall development of the country,” he added.

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