TIMES OF INDIA (NEW DELHI)—Senior government sources said that India’s ambassador to Nepal Shiv Shankar Mukherjee was in touch with the Maoists who on Tuesday 15 April, 2008 continued their winning spree in Nepal’s Assembly elections, adding that “we are ready to sit with them”. India can hope to derive benefit from the end of status quo since the monarchy, for long, had been hostile to India’s interests. To the extent the mandate for the Maoists can be interpreted as a “vote against Kathmandu”, India can expect fresh opportunities to repair ties which have frequently been strained by mutual suspicions. Unnamed sources state that the election in Nepal had helped achieve two goals that India was keen on – democratization and mainstreaming of Maoists. Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/India_set_to_do_business_with_Nepal_Maoists/articleshow/2954828.cms
(Reliability: 7.5)
Comment: The final results of the Nepal’s Constituent Assembly election are still unknown. According to the New York Times, no party was expected to win by a landslide; however, the Maoists are doing much better than expected. As of 15 April 2008, the Maoists have won 108 out of 196 directly elected legislative seats.
No comments:
Post a Comment