The Hindu : New Delhi News : India reiterates concern over Nepal

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 19, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

India reiterates concern over Nepal

Diplomatic Correspondent

NEW DELHI: A day after its Ambassador to Nepal Shiv Shankar Mukherjee met King Gyanendra, India on Monday expressed concern about the deteriorating situation in the Himalayan kingdom.

An External Affairs Ministry spokesman told presspersons that Mr. Mukherjee's meeting with the King was part of New Delhi's "continuing interaction" with authorities in Kathmandu. The spokesman said Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran would be in Bhutan on Tuesday. Asked whether Mr. Saran would visit Kathmandu, he said the Foreign Secretary had no immediate plans to visit Nepal.

India believed that the political parties and the monarchy needed to work together. Asked whether New Delhi supported the formation of an all-party government in Nepal, he chose not to go into details. He said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh chaired a meeting on Sunday to review the Nepal situation.

National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan told reporters in Bangalore on Monday that in the review meeting Dr. Singh took some decisions. "Things will unfold soon," Mr. Narayanan said.

He was in the city to inaugurate the ISRO Satellite Integration and Test Establishment (ISITE).

Referring to the explosion at the Jama Masjid in New Delhi on April 14, Mr. Narayanan said the explosive was a low-intensity one, similar to the one used in the 1997 blasts in the capital.

To a question on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's refusal to participate in the second round of Geneva talks scheduled to be held on April 24 and 25, Mr. Narayanan hoped it did not mean they would break the ceasefire. But India wanted to avoid the prospect of more refugees coming into the country.

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