He was speaking at the two-day seminar in New Delhi organized by the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) on Recent Developments in Nepal - The Way Forward. The seminar kicked off in New Delhi on Thursday morning. [break]
According to a participant of the seminar, Bhattarai said that the new constitution must be drafted by the Constituent Assembly at any cost and that the integration of PLA combatants must be achieved in the near future.
Officials attending the seminar said that senior CPN-UML and Nepali Congress leaders highlighted the need for the Maoists to fulfill their earlier commitments on the peace deals. Senior NC leader Dr Ram Sharan Mahat and CPN-UML leader Pradeep Gyawali laid emphasis on the need for the Maoist to complete the integration process first so that the constitution writing could move ahead.
In her inaugural speech, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala stressed reconciliation in Nepali politics and said, "If the political parties do not rise above partisan interests we might miss the new deadline for constitution writing.
Earlier, Koirala met with Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and held talks on the progress made in advancing the peace process and constitution drafting, Koirala told Republica.
Also speaking on the occasion, VIF Director Ajit Doval, a retired IPS officer of Kerala Cadre, said that the seminar has been organized with the objective of understanding the problems facing the current political developments in Nepal. He said, “Nepal is very important as it is undergoing a period of change,” adding, “The main concern among the Indian civil society and intelligentsia is that the deadlines in the peace process have not been met.”
Doval is a former Director of Intelligence Bureau and VIF is an independent, non-partisan institution that promotes quality research and in-depth studies and is a platform for dialogue and conflict resolution.
On the first day of the seminar, Maoist Vice-chairman Dr Bhattarai, central committee member of Nepali Congress Pradeep Giri and Hari Sharma, the advisor to the President Dr Ram Baran Yadav, spoke on political reconciliation. Similarly, advocates Agni Kharel and Bhimarjun Acharya, CPN-UML leader Pradeep Gyawali and senior political leader of NC Dr Ram Saran Mahat spoke on constitution-writing.
On the session of rehabilitation and integration of PLA combatants, former chief of Nepal Army Rookmangud Katawal and Maoist central committee member Barshaman Pun were the speakers.
Krishna, Oli remain absent
Although initially settled, Indian Foreign Minister S M Krishna did not attend the inaugural session of the seminar. Similarly, senior leader of CPN-UML K P Sharma Oli too did not make it to the event citing ´health reasons.´
Media kept away
VIF, the organizers of the two-day seminar, did not allow mediapersons to attend the sessions of the seminar. Although a good number of Nepali journalists reached the venue, they were allowed to sit only for the inaugural program.
The organizers cited “for the comfort of the speakers” as the reason behind not allowing journalists in the sessions. “It is for the comfort of the speakers and also as we want the discussions to be open,” an organizer said.
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