145;New Nepal needs India146;s support146;

When there is economic equality... there is no need for violence. I don8217;t see violence in absolute ideal terms

For Nepal8217;s Maoist leader Prachanda, violence cannot be weighed as an absolute term, it had to be seen in the context of the concrete condition of the time. 8220;When there is economic equality and conducive atmosphere, there is no need for violence. I don8217;t see violence in absolute ideal terms. It has to be related to time and place,8221; he said in answer to a question at a conference.

In other words, he was not saying 8216;no8217; to violence. It was the sort of reply that people, seeing him speak here for the first time, expected from the Maoist leader. But, after a busy day in the Capital where he spoke on democracy at the Hindustan Times Leadership summit, addressed a crowded Press conference and finally have details of his plans for a new Nepal at the Observer Research Foundation they learnt that depending on what he was talking about, Prachanda could be equivocal as on violence, theoretical 8212; when he spoke of his concept of a competitive multiparty democracy 8212; or charmingly frank while giving details of the arms his cadres had stockpiled during the insurgency. He said, for instance, the Nepalese Army knew how many arms were with the Maoists because they had all been stolen from them.

The important thing for India was his straightforward interpretation of India8217;s relations with the New Nepal: India8217;s support was necessary for future Nepal. 8220;There are historical, cultural and linguistically close ties with India, and a New Nepal cannot emerge without India8217;s involvement,8221; Prachanda said, adding a democratic progressive Nepal would also be in India8217;s interests.

He also claimed there was no leadership role for his party with regard to Indian Maoists and described the 8220;Red corridor from Pashupati to Tirupati8221; as the 8220;imagination of a religious fundamentalist group8221; in India. He did not name the BJP or the Sangh Parivar, saying to the amusement of the audience, that he may have to do business with them at some time.

Describing the session on 8216;Democracy: The forbidden fruit or nectar for progress8217; at the Hindustan Times function as 8220;titillating8221;, Prachanda delivered a deeply philosophical lecture as he referred to the Greek philosophers, Rosa Luxemburg, Samuel Huntington and the French Revolution to say that the political battle of the 21st century would be fought over the question of democracy.

In the course of the many public appearances during the day, Prachanda lauded the role played by India in forming the 12-point agreement between them and the Seven Party Alliance that had initially set out the roadmap after the pro-democracy movement.