US embassy cable - 05KATHMANDU2178

C O N F I D E N T I A L KATHMANDU 002178 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS 
LONDON FOR POL/BELL 
NSC FOR GREEN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/04/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, NP, India Relations 
SUBJECT: INDIAN POLITICAL LEADERS VISIT NEPAL 
 
Classified By: Classified By: Ambassador James F. Moriarty; Reasons 1.4 
 (b/d). 
 
INDIAN POLITICAL DELEGATION TO SUPPORT DEMOCRACY 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
1.  (SBU) During a September 28-30 visit to Kathmandu, a 
six-member Indian political delegation, headed by politburo 
member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Sitaram 
Yechuri, expressed support for multiparty democracy in Nepal. 
 The group, which also included leaders of five other 
political parties in India, visited Nepal at the invitation 
of the Seven-Party Alliance to assess Nepal's political 
situation after the Royal takeover of February 1.  At an 
interaction program organized by the Reporters' Club of Nepal 
on September 28, the Indian leaders said that their visit was 
to understand the actual situation in Nepal and express 
solidarity with Nepal's democratic movement, and that it 
should not be taken as an intervention in Nepal's internal 
affairs.  They stressed that it was up to the Nepali people 
to decide what kind of democracy they want.  The Indian 
leaders added, however, that they would urge the Indian 
government not to lift its arms embargo on Nepal until 
democracy was restored.  They encouraged Nepal to take 
Maoists into the political mainstream through peaceful means. 
 
INDIAN LEADERS BACK POLITICAL PARTIES' ROAD MAP 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
2.  (U) On September 29, the visiting Indian politicians held 
discussions with the leaders of the major political parties 
on ways to resolve the present problems facing Nepal.  They 
extended their support for the Seven-Party Alliance's road 
map:  to reinstate the House of Representatives, form an 
interim government, and then hold constituent assembly 
elections.  The Indian politicians were positive about the 
Parties' road map, opining that it would help resolve the 
political problems.  They also stated that India was willing 
to consider the UN having a role in resolving the Maoist 
conflict, if a concrete proposal including UN involvement 
came from Nepal's political parties. 
 
FOREIGN INTERVENTION? 
--------------------- 
 
3.  (U) A group of "nationalists and royalists" had greeted 
the Indian politicos with black flags and stones as they 
arrived in Kathmandu on September 28.  About 200 
demonstrators chanted slogans against "direct intervention of 
Indian leaders in Nepal's internal politics."  The mainstream 
political parties, however, denounced the demonstration.  The 
Nepali Congress (NC) and the Nepali Congress Democratic 
(NC-D) issued statements saying the incident exposed the 
"government's intolerable and heinous attitude toward foreign 
neighbors." 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
4.  (C) The visit of the Indian political leaders stepped up 
Indian pressure on HMGN.  The King held his weekly meeting 
with the Cabinet and security chief a day early on September 
27, reportedly to discuss how to respond to possible 
pro-democracy mass demonstrations resulting from the 
delegation's presence.  These did not occur, and Kathmandu 
for now appears more focused on the upcoming holidays than on 
the looming political crisis. 
MORIARTY