In the midst of hectic political activity in Nepal where pressure is building on King Gyanendra after political parties reached an understanding with the Maoists, Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran is planning a three-day visit to the country when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is away for the East Asia Summit.The Foreign Secretary is planning to visit Nepal on December 11-13 and is expected to meet senior officials in the Nepal government, including the King. His visit comes at a time when the political circles in Nepal are abuzz with word out that the King may appoint a Prime Minister.More importantly, India too has been increasing pressure on the King given that he has not taken concrete moves towards restoration of democracy in Nepal. India had released part of the non-lethal military aid to Nepal after Gyanendra promised the Manmohan Singh in Jakarta eight months ago that he would take steps towards consolidating multi-party democracy. The PM pointed out the lack of progress on this to Gyanendra when the two met last month on the margins of the SAARC Summit in Dhaka. The King recognised the importance of involving political parties in the process and the two leaders agreed that official-level contact should be maintained between both countries.However, India’s recent proposal to review the Indo-Nepal transit treaty has led to much discomfort in Nepal. The treaty is up for renewal in 2007, but the proposal has brought back fears of 1989 when India shut down all but two of the 15 transit points. The latest round of talks on the transit treaty concluded last Saturday.These issues will all come up at Saran’s meetings with Nepalese leaders, one that India views with concern, is the Sino-Nepal military cooperation. Reports that 18 truckloads of arms and ammunition were recently sent to Nepal have only added to the worries. It was this prospect in the mid 1980s that had led to the blockade by India. Much speculation has already been generated in Nepal over India’s intentions as the King tries to cope with a difficult political situation following the understanding reached between political parties and the Maoists.India has been in close touch with political parties and leaders like former Nepal PM G P Koirala and CPN (UML) leader Madhav Kumar Nepal. These leaders have been visiting India frequently and have met Saran during their trips. Saran, who was India’s ambassador to Nepal before taking up the Foreign Secretary’s post, has not visited the country in a while and will be looking to make his own assessment of the situation as India works with the US and UK to bring pressure on Gyanendra to bring back multi-party democracy.
