External affairs minister S.M. Krishna will undertake a three-day visit to Nepal next week, amid a political deadlock that has stalled the progress in the peace process and hindered the drafting of a new Constitution by next month’s deadline.
The visit, expected to begin on April 20, will be the first by an Indian minister since Jhalanath Khanal took over as Prime Minister on February 3.
Mr Krishna’s visit is being considered as significant as it comes at a time when Nepal’s coalition government is horn-locked over the issue of Cabinet expansion.
The disagreement between the coalition partners CPN-Maoists and CPN-UML has caused a major delay in the expansion of the Cabinet and the country appears headed towards a political crisis with uncertainty surrounding the drafting of a new Constitution, the deadline for which expires on May 28.
During the visit, the external affairs minister will meet Prime Minister Khanal and senior leaders of the ruling and opposition parties, highly placed sources said.
—PTI
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‘Manmohan a nice man for Pakistan’
Rezaul H. Laskar
Islamabad
April 17: Pakistan’s former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, who had several meetings with Indian leaders during his nine-years at the helm, feels Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is a “nice man” for his country.
Mr Musharraf, who met Dr Singh a number of times, including during his visit to New Delhi in 2005, said he liked the Indian Prime Minister.
“He (Singh) is a nice man for Pakistan,” said Mr Musharraf, who has been living outside the country since early 2009, during an interview with Dawn News channel in Dubai.
Mr Musharraf quit as President in 2008 to avoid being impeached by the Pakistan People’s Party-led government.
After a failed bilateral summit in Agra in 2001, Mr Musharraf returned to India in 2005 when his meeting with Dr Singh resulted in a joint statement that described the peace process between the two countries as “irreversible”.
The two leaders had first met in 2004 in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting.
—PTI