As India grapples with fresh surprises thrown up by Nepal’s King Gyanendra over the past couple of days, plans are afoot for the first official visit by an Indian diplomat since the royal takeover in February.Ranjit Rae, Joint Secretary in-charge of Nepal, is slated to be in the neighbouring country on Thursday. And though his visit was on the cards in connection with a meeting at the B P Koirala Institute of Health Sciences at Dharan, sources said he would be visiting Kathmandu and the Indian consulate at Birganj, too.The visit assumes importance given the recent attempts by Nepal to discredit India by making public an audiotape apparently carrying the voice of Maoist leader Prachanda alleging that New Delhi was willing to talk with him.India has rubbished these claims and questioned the authenticity of the tape. However, the demarche handed over to Ambassador Shiv Shankar Mukherjee on Friday will call for a fresh assessment before a go-ahead is given to Rae.With Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran still to return from the US, sources said a final shape to Rae’s visit will be given by Tuesday. As of now, some official meetings with Nepalese foreign office officials are being planned next weekend when Rae is in Kathmandu.But more importantly, India will have to take into account the unexpected response from the King despite Delhi’s decision to release arms supplies. The King had assured Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Jakarta that he will take definite steps towards restoration of democracy.Instead, the King has censured India for ‘‘interfering’’ in Nepal’s internal matters. Kathmandu also took exception to Indian statements supporting the common agenda drafted by political parties in Nepal. There were reports that some pro-monarchy groups may even march to the Indian Embassy in the coming days and protest the alleged interference in Nepal’s internal issues.
