Kathmandu: The Maoist leadership has said that it will remain committed to the peace process to end the decade-old insurgency in Nepal and would not backtrack from its promise, according to senior CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury, who met the rebel chief Prachanda here.

During his more than an hour-long talks with Mr. Prachanda on Friday, Mr. Yechury was told that the rebels have come to the democratic process and do not intend to go back, the CPI(M) Polit Bureau member told PTI.

Mr. Yechury, who arrived here on Friday on a three-day visit, met Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala before his talks with the Maoist chief. He will be meeting Nepal Communist Party-UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal and other senior leaders too.

He said Mr. Prachanda has assured him that Maoists will abide by the 12-point agreement signed between the Seven-Party Alliance and the rebels and also another eight-point pact reached recently between the two sides.

After his meeting with the Maoist chief, Mr. Yechury said he was confident that the rebels would return to the peaceful competitive politics and abandon violence.

There seems to be a crisis of confidence and suspicion between the parties and the Maoists, Mr. Yechury said, adding Mr. Prachanda has assured him that the rebels would keep on holding dialogue with political parties till all differences are sorted out.

"Indian Communists have a long experience of working with democracy and they have come to power through elections, and the Maoists want to learn from our experience to come to the peaceful process," Mr. Yechury said. "I came here with goodwill and good wishes of the Indian people," he said when asked about the objective of his visit.

The Government and the people of India are very keen that democratic structures in Nepal evolve as soon as possible and peace, stability and progress are in place in the Himalayan nation, said Mr. Yechury, who had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi before leaving for Kathmandu.

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