The Politburo member of the CPI-M landed in Kathmandu on Wednesday just as the government and Maoists worked on the formal agreement.
Surendra Sharma
KATHMANDU: On the eve of the signing of a Comprehensive Peace Agreement, aimed at formally ending the ten-year-old Maoist insurgency in the Himalayan nation, the United States, European Union and India have made their presence felt in the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu.
Assistant Secretary of the State for South Asia, Richard Boucher; a troika of the European Union (EU) led by Finland’s Foreign Ministry’s Director for Asia, Pekka Metso; and Politburo Member of the Communist Party of India — Marxist (CPI-M), Sitaram Yechuri landed in Kathmandu on Wednesday — just as the government and Maoists worked on the formal agreement.
But the two sides are yet to finalize the formal agreement after differences cropped up over the draft of the formal agreement, which was leaked by the government side, according to Deb Gurung, a Maoist negotiating team member present in today’s day-long yet inconclusive meeting. “But we are hopeful that we can complete the task early tomorrow,” he said.
Nepal’s Seven Party Alliance government and the Communist Party of Nepal — Maoist (CPN-M) are scheduled to ink the comprehensive agreement on Thursday, setting the stage for Constituent Assembly elections due for June.
Described as India’s Nepal interlocutor — thanks to the intermediary role he played during Nepalese political negotiations in New Delhi early this year — Yechuri is scheduled to witness the formal signing of the historic peace agreement. On his arrival at the airport, Boucher only said, “I am happy to be in Nepal once again.”
King ‘guilty’
A high-level commission, probing the crackdown on pro-democracy protesters during the April uprising against the monarchy in Nepal, has held King Gyanendra responsible for atrocities committed during the people’s movement.
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