India not threatened by Nepal peace deal

Nepalese Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala (2-R) shakes hands with Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee (2-L) following a meeting in Kathmandu yesterday. Mukherjee arrived in the Nepalese capital on a day-long visit to invite Prime Minister Koirala to attend the forthcoming the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) summit in India. PHOTO: AFP

"I don't think that their joining the government here and joining the mainstream of the national politics would be a threat to India's security," Mukherjee told reporters in Kathmandu.

India is also battling its own Maoist rebels, with insurgents active in 15 of its 29 states. Mukherjee said the Nepal deal "would encourage the extremists and the Maoists in other areas to join the national mainstream of politics."

Mukherjee arrived in Nepal's capital on a day-long visit Sunday morning, a day after the top leaders of seven parties and Maoists finalised an interim constitution that saw the king's powers as head of state transferred to Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala.

Mukharjee said India respected the decision.

"We are not to make any comment. It is for the people and the political parties of Nepal to decide what kind of constitution they will have," he said.

Commenting on why he did not meet with the Maoist leaders during his visit, the visiting minister said he was meeting only the political parties who are in the government.

"The moment the Maoists will join the government, there will be no question over meeting them. We have already welcomed their decision to join the government political mainstream," Mukharjee said.

Nepal's Maoists are set to join the government and enter parliament once other aspects of the peace agreement, which ended a decade of civil war, move forward. These include the Maoist placing their fighters and weapons under United Nations supervision.