By IANS,
New Delhi: India Wednesday congratulated Nepal for sealing a crucial seven-point agreement on integrating former Maoist combatants into the security forces and and hoped that it will pave the way for a transition to an inclusive multi-party democracy.
“This agreement provides a firm basis for successfully concluding the remaining aspects of Nepal’s peace process,” the external affairs ministry said here.
“We congratulate the people and the political parties in Nepal for their commitment to peacefully resolving outstanding issues in a spirit of consensus and for displaying enlightened leadership,” the ministry said.
New Delhi underlined that it “fully supports these efforts to pave the way for Nepal’s transition to a pluralistic and inclusive multi-party democracy”.
In a historic step Tuesday night, Nepal’s chief political parties set aside their differences to seal an agreement on integrating former Maoist combatants into the country’s security forces.
Leaders of the major parties – the Maoists, Nepali Congress, Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) and the Madeshi parties sealed the deal at Nepal Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai’s residence.
According to the deal, 6,500 of nearly 18,000 Maoist combatants living in cantonments since the 2006 peace deal would be integrated into Nepal’s security forces.
The deal was sealed days after Bhattarai visited India during which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urged Kathmandu to spur the stalled peace process forward.