Days after police clashed with protesters in Kathmandu, leader of the opposition UCPN (Maoist) and former Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai is in Delhi for meetings with President Pranab Mukherjee, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.
The visit has given rise to speculation that Nepali opposition leaders are reaching out to India after efforts to formulate the new constitution collapsed last month. The Maoist party and the rest of the 30-member opposition coalition walked out of the talks over the government’s decision to go for a vote over disputed issues in the constituent assembly rather than consensus, as the opposition demanded.
The decision on a vote is one of several issues holding up the constitution, that has missed repeated deadlines, including one on January 22, in the decade-long process of reconciliation. Speaking at a seminar organised by the Society for Policy Studies in Delhi, Mr. Bhattarai said India has a “role to play” in the constitution-making conflict in Nepal, and that a peaceful Nepal is in “India’s national interest.”
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At a speech in November 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said in Kathmandu that “The Constitution should be written on the basis of consensus. A Constitution written on numerical basis will not be in Nepal’s interest.” Mr. Modi’s comments were welcomed by some but drew sharp criticism as “Indian interference” by leading newspapers and political leaders.