India needs leverage with Maoists

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will have to lean heavily on Left party leader Sitaram Yechury to build bridges with Nepal’s Maoist leaders.

The Left parties, especially Yechury has been in touch with both Baburam Bhattarai and Prachanda through the crisis and has his work cut out for him in the coming weeks and months when the government has to grapple with the power shift in the Himalayan kingdom.

The maoists or 'maobadis' in local parlance are there to stay in Nepal. Whether they will give up the gun and join mainstream democratic politics, or continue as a guerrilla force is not yet clear, much will depend on how the situation plays out in the coming weeks and months.

India as the nearest neighbour, is directly affected by what happens in Nepal, and needs some leverage with the Maoists. Delhi has always had an equation with the palace, and excellent ties with Nepal’s political  parties for decades. But the maobadis are the new force in the Himalayan kingdom and publicly official India had no truck with the guerrillas.

Despite the establishment’s uneasiness with the Maoists, Indian security agencies have had contacts with them over the last few years.  However much more important than the links with Indian agencies, is the CPM's close ties with the top Maoist leadership.