According to a news report published in the online edition of Times News Network, India will try to push for "free and fair" elections in Nepal. New Indian ambassador Jayanta Prasad will replace Rakesh Sood in Kathmandu to drive Indian policy in Kathmandu, the report said.[break]
As a part of the Indian government´s New Year resolution to concentrate attention on immediate neighbors, Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna is scheduled to visit Kathmandu soon after Maoist leader Baburam Bhattarai´s visit to India next week. Foreign Minister Krishna will reiterate Indian position with the Maoist leadership asking the latter to disarm first, said the news report.
The news report added that the visit of Nepali leaders including Dr Bhattarai to India to take part in Nepal Seminar will be crucial as this would provide India to get first-hand assessment of the current Maoist thinking and plan accordingly to help take the ongoing peace process to a logical end. India believes that political understanding among parties in Nepal will be possible once Maoists agree to sever their ties from arms and combatants.
Dr Bhattarai, along with several Nepali political and civil society leaders including K P Oli, Pradeep Giri, Sujata Koirala, Daman Nath Dhungana, Hari Sharma, Pradeep Gyawali, Prakash Man Singh, Rookmangud Katawal, Bhimarjun Acharya, Sudheendra Sharma, Barsha Man Pun and Agni Kharel will be visiting New Delhi to take part in the two-day seminar. Prashanta Jha, Anil Jha, Bishwombhar Pyakurel, Sujeev Shakya, Prof Lok Raj Baral, Sambhu Sinkhada and Prof Sangeeta Thapaliya will also attend the seminar.
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