Deuba seeks help on Maoist logjam

The possibility of using India's good offices to facilitate talks with Maoists in Nepal was mooted today by Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba when he met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and signed a clutch of agreements for cooperation in weather forecasting, culture and sports.

Deuba and Singh had one-on-one talks which were followed by delegation level discussions on the state of bilateral relations, regional and international concern.

Nepal is believed to be of the view that India, if it had a mind to, could help Kathmandu should secret talks with the Maoists at a neutral venue like Mauritius or Male.

Deuba's main preoccupation has been to shore up his position as Prime Minister to ensure he got some time to perform and prove he could be an effective ruler.

To this end, his advisors have been telling him that a word from India to the Palace to cut him some slack would help. Deuba's advisors say the Maoists brought Nepal to such a pass only because for the last 15 years, Katha-mandu has had no leader at the helm of the affairs beyond a three year term.

Either the king or other political parties have succeeded in dethroning him, whether it was the Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist-Leninist) or the Rashtriya Prajatantra Party or even GP Koirala of the Nepali Congress.

His advisors said they encouraged Deuba to speak freely about his problems which include the dilemma of the King's Order - that elections be held in Nepal by April 2005.

The Indian side conveyed its difficulties"" that if allowed to flourish unhindered, the Maoists could spill over to UP, Bihar, Uttaranchal and Assam and create a serious law and order problem. New Delhi is already providing arms to Nepal, and said more help would not be refused.

Deuba is scheduled to hold meetings with Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

India wants a revision of the Extradition and Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty with Nepal which was signed in 1953 and expressly rules out handing over of third party nationals for crimes committed on each other's soil.

The step-up in the activities of Pakistan in Nepal has worried India, especially after the hijacking of IC 814 and it would like the extradition treaty revised to include this clause.

Mutual Legal Assistance""the facility to question and interrogate suspects "" should also be included, sources in the Indian High Commission in Kathmandu said.

Tomorrow, water resources minister PR Dasmunsi and leader of opposition in Lok Sabha LK Advani will meet Deuba who will also meet former Prime Minister AB Vajpayee.