KATHMANDU- Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee had told the then General Secretary of the CPN-UML Madhav Kumar Nepal that the government of Nepal should not, “under any circumstances, integrate Maoist combatants into the Nepal Army.”
Additional US diplomatic cables sent by the US embassy and released jointly by the Hindu and wikileaks further revealed that Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was more blunt with MK Nepal, warning him to be wary of the Maoists.”
Further, New Delhi had expected Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula to do more to address the security situation, particularly the “Maoist abuses,” the cables revealed.
They also said New Delhi was sceptical of the Maoist intentions and had begun taking a tough approach towards their abuses and even denying their request to visit Delhi—concluding that communicating with them “would only reward bad behaviour.”
In a cable sent by the then US Ambassador to Nepal, James F. Moriarty, on June 18, 2007, he refers to his extensive discussion with the then Indian Ambassador to Nepal, Shiv Shankar Mukherjee.
“… Government of India (GOI) was increasingly concerned with the deteriorating security situation in Nepal. Maoist abuses needed to be punished. Foreign Minister Mukherjee had told MK Nepal that the seven parties in the governing coalition needed to stay united and take clear steps to prepare for free and fair elections in November.
This was the only way, FM Mukherjee had opined, to keep the Maoists in the political process. The Foreign Minister had also made it clear to MK Nepal that the GON should not, under any circumstances, integrate Maoist combatants into the Nepal Army,” Moriarty wrote to Washington.
“According to the Indian political counsellor, Prime Minister Monmohan Singh was even blunter with MK Nepal, warning him to be wary of the Maoists and urging him to work with Prime Minister Koirala,” the cable said.
It appears that both the US and India were pushing for free and fair elections and hints at New Delhi’s leverage over armed groups in the Tarai.
“He (Mukherjee) also noted that the Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha (“People’s Terai Liberation Front”) (JTMM) should be brought into discussions and convinced to declare a “revolutionary ceasefire” to save face. Mukherjee told the Ambassador that the GOI would do “everything in its power” to address the situation if the JTMM tried to derail the Constituent Assembly election,” the cable further said.
In a clear sign that the Indian position was beginning to harden on the Maoists around June in 2007, the cable reports that India had refused Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s request to visit Delhi.
“… Ambassador Mukherjee said that officials in New Delhi had refused the informal requests for a visit they had received from Maoist chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal (aka Prachanda). According to Mukherjee, Dahal’s go-betweens were told by the Indian Embassy that it was not the time for a visit to New Delhi because the Maoists had continued to break their commitments to the peace process,” the cable reported.
India also appears to have closed its clandestine channel of communications with the Maoists, and instead insisted that the Maoists communicate to Delhi via the Indian embassy in Kathmandu. The Maoists had reportedly lamented the fact that they had “lost their former channels” of communication to New Delhi. In response, GOI officials had made it clear that since the Maoists had joined the interim government, the intelligence community was no longer their conduit. “‘We are the conduit now,’ Mukherjee noted, referring to his embassy,” the cable said.
Maoist spokesman Dinanath Sharma said there was no truth in the allegations, adding that not all wikileaks releases are necessarily credible. “We have had contacts with Indian political leaders, but we haven’t dealt with any clandestine agencies,” Sharma said.
Additional US diplomatic cables sent by the US embassy and released jointly by the Hindu and wikileaks further revealed that Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was more blunt with MK Nepal, warning him to be wary of the Maoists.”
Further, New Delhi had expected Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula to do more to address the security situation, particularly the “Maoist abuses,” the cables revealed.
They also said New Delhi was sceptical of the Maoist intentions and had begun taking a tough approach towards their abuses and even denying their request to visit Delhi—concluding that communicating with them “would only reward bad behaviour.”
In a cable sent by the then US Ambassador to Nepal, James F. Moriarty, on June 18, 2007, he refers to his extensive discussion with the then Indian Ambassador to Nepal, Shiv Shankar Mukherjee.
“… Government of India (GOI) was increasingly concerned with the deteriorating security situation in Nepal. Maoist abuses needed to be punished. Foreign Minister Mukherjee had told MK Nepal that the seven parties in the governing coalition needed to stay united and take clear steps to prepare for free and fair elections in November.
This was the only way, FM Mukherjee had opined, to keep the Maoists in the political process. The Foreign Minister had also made it clear to MK Nepal that the GON should not, under any circumstances, integrate Maoist combatants into the Nepal Army,” Moriarty wrote to Washington.
“According to the Indian political counsellor, Prime Minister Monmohan Singh was even blunter with MK Nepal, warning him to be wary of the Maoists and urging him to work with Prime Minister Koirala,” the cable said.
It appears that both the US and India were pushing for free and fair elections and hints at New Delhi’s leverage over armed groups in the Tarai.
“He (Mukherjee) also noted that the Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha (“People’s Terai Liberation Front”) (JTMM) should be brought into discussions and convinced to declare a “revolutionary ceasefire” to save face. Mukherjee told the Ambassador that the GOI would do “everything in its power” to address the situation if the JTMM tried to derail the Constituent Assembly election,” the cable further said.
In a clear sign that the Indian position was beginning to harden on the Maoists around June in 2007, the cable reports that India had refused Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s request to visit Delhi.
“… Ambassador Mukherjee said that officials in New Delhi had refused the informal requests for a visit they had received from Maoist chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal (aka Prachanda). According to Mukherjee, Dahal’s go-betweens were told by the Indian Embassy that it was not the time for a visit to New Delhi because the Maoists had continued to break their commitments to the peace process,” the cable reported.
India also appears to have closed its clandestine channel of communications with the Maoists, and instead insisted that the Maoists communicate to Delhi via the Indian embassy in Kathmandu. The Maoists had reportedly lamented the fact that they had “lost their former channels” of communication to New Delhi. In response, GOI officials had made it clear that since the Maoists had joined the interim government, the intelligence community was no longer their conduit. “‘We are the conduit now,’ Mukherjee noted, referring to his embassy,” the cable said.
Maoist spokesman Dinanath Sharma said there was no truth in the allegations, adding that not all wikileaks releases are necessarily credible. “We have had contacts with Indian political leaders, but we haven’t dealt with any clandestine agencies,” Sharma said.
No comments:
Post a Comment