Indian envoy meets Maoist chief Prachanda; bilateral investment promotion agreement issue also raised

KATHMANDU: A day after senior Nepal Minister raised objections to a key bilateral investment promotion agreement, India's top envoy here met Maoist chief Prachanda and is understood to have raised the issue.

The meeting between Prachanda and Ambassador Jayant Prasad comes a day after Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha, raised objection to signing of Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement ( BIPPA) with India.

Prasad is understood to have showed concern over the objection over BIPPA, which was signed by their party Vice Chairman and Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai.

Shrestha had said that all the treaties and agreements signed with India, including BIPPA by Bhattarai should be rectified as they could affect the national sovereignty.

Meanwhile, Prachanda assured Prasad that his party would try to forge consensus with major political parties including Nepali Congress and CPN-UML to end the current political deadlock.

Prasad met Maoist chief Prachanda at the party office at Parisdanda in the outskirts of the national capital to enquire about the current political situation of Nepal, according to the official sources.

Issues like Constituent Assembly election, ongoing peace process, current political situation and formation of a national consensus government figured in the meeting, Maoist spokesman Krishna Bahadur Mahara sid.

During the talks, Prachand assured the Indian envoy that his party would try to forge consensus with major political parties including Nepali Congress and CPN-UML to end the current political deadlock.

He said that efforts will be made to reach agreement with other political parties to hold election and to sort out contentious issues of the constitution, according to Mahara.