By IRNA,
New Delhi : The Nepal Maoists stepped up its anti-India rhetoric, with party supremo Prachanda leading a protests march against alleged encroachment of Nepalese territories by its southern neighbour ahead of Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna’s visit.
After blaming New Delhi’s “naked interference” for the deepening political crisis in the country last month, Prachanda along with top Maoist leaders Monday visited various points along the Indo-Nepal border where the former rebels have accused India of encroaching upon Nepalese territories.
UCPN-Maoist chief led a protest rally in Tanakpur dam at Bramhadev area of Kanchanpur district in far-west Nepal where they have accused India of constructing a barrage that solely benefits India in water sharing, PTI reported.
Addressing a gathering at Kanchanpur district, Prachanda said that their party will fight to “preserve national independence”.
Earlier Prachanda had called for the withdrawal of Indian troops from Kalapani, a disputed part of Nepal’s territory on the borders of India, Nepal and China.
Prachanda has demanded the scrapping of the 1950 Indo-Nepal Peace and Friendship Treaty along with all other “unequal” pacts with India and sought the ending of “special relationship” with its southern giant neighbour.
Baburam Bhattarai, Vice chairman of the party, led a rally in Nawalparasi district in western Nepal where India has been accused of encroaching Nepalese territory in Susta village.
Maoists’ hardliner leader Mohan Vaidya Kiran, the senior Vice president of the party, led a protest rally against alleged Indian “encroachment” in Pashupatinagar in Ilam district of eastern Nepal.
Narayankaji Shrestha ‘Prakash’, the Maoist’s deputy Parliamentary Party leader, and Maoist general secretary Ram Bahadur Thapa ‘Badal, led rallies in Laxmanpur Dam area of Banke district and Khurdalotan Dam in Rupandehi districts of western Nepal respectively to protest against inundation of Nepalese land by unauthorized construction on Indian side.
The Maoist party has intensified its anti-India campaign ahead of Krishna’s three-day first official visit to Nepal from January 15.
Wide range of bilateral issues, including economic cooperation will be discussed during the high-level talks, foreign ministry officials here said. The two close neighbours are likely to sign few MoU linked to technical and economic cooperation, officials said.
They are likely to deepen cooperation on the field of rural electrification, solar energy and infrastructure development. They will also take stock of issues finalised during Prime Minister Nepal’s visit to India last year.
Foreign Ministry officials here said they were finalising the agenda for the key visit amid deepening political crisis in Nepal.
The Maoists have alleged that the 22-party coalition led by the Prime Minister of Nepal was formed at the initiative of India and the government is acting like a “puppet”.
The Maoists have threatened to paralyse the country with an indefinite general strike from January 24 if the government failed to rectify the “unconstitutional” decision of the President, who reinstated the then army chief Gen Rukmangad Katawal, dismissed by Prachanda last May.