The Maoist leader said this at a press conference held at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) upon arrival back here from his four-day India visit.[break]
"We had a suspicion that India has been playing a game to isolate the Maoists. We openly put forward our views to Indian leaders, and the latter replied that they did not have any policy to isolate the Maoists and they would even accept a Maoist-led government if the political parties here so want," Bhattarai said. He said Indian leaders assured him that they will not have any problem if the Maoists lead a government in Nepal, adding that India as a neighbor was obviously "concerned and worried" about the fragile peace process in Nepal.
During his India trip, Bhattarai met senior politicians including Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and External Affairs Minister S M Krishna. He also met Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon.
Bhattarai said the Indian leaders told him that they did not want to interfere in Nepal´s internal affairs. The Maoists have long been crying foul over "Indian interferences" in Nepal and their playing all sorts of games to isolate them here.
According to Bhattarai, India wants to hold talks with the Maoists to remove existing misunderstandings, if any, and improve relations, and he claimed that his visit was important in thawing his party´s relations with India´s ruling parties.
"India, as a neighbor, wants the logical conclusion of the peace process and constitution drafting in Nepal," he said, arguing that India wants Nepalis themselves to solve all their existing political problems at home.
He also said he was assured by the Indian leaders that India was not conspiring against Nepali Maoists. He reiterated that his visit would be helpful in improving relations between his party and the Indian ruling parties.
At the press meet, Maoist standing committee member Barshaman Pun, who accompanied Bhattarai during the trip, said he found Indian officials at the seminar worried about souring relations between the Maoist party and the Indians.
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