Indian PM, Koirala discuss peace process

NEW DELHI, July 12: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met Nepali Congress President Sushil Koirala in New Delhi on Tuesday and said India wants to see a stable prosperious and peaceful Nepal with a democratic constitution in place.



Sources close to Koirala said the Indian prime minister expressed his concerns over the peace process.[break]



Koirala also met with Indian Minister for External Affairs S M Krishna Tuesday. Meetings were fixed with urgency on Monday with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, opposition leader L K Advani and national security advisor Shiva S Menon.



According to sources, another major issue discussed was the role of the UCPN (Maoist) in the peace process and lack of progress in army integration.



India has said that Nepal should complete the peace process first, which naturally means the tasks of integrating and rehabilitating Maoist combatants should be completed before writing constitution. Koirala is scheduled to meet Congress party chair Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday.

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