Nepal Maoists committed to peace talks: Yechury

The CPI-M leader was told during a meeting that the rebels have come to the democratic process and do not intend to go back.

The Maoist leadership has said that it would remain committed to the peace process to end the decade-old insurgency in Nepal and would not back track from its promise, according to senior CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury who met the rebel chief Prachanda here.

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During his more than an hour-long talks with Prachanda on Friday, Yechury was told that the rebels have come to the democratic process and do not intend to go back, the CPI-M politburo member said.

Yechury, who arrived here yesterday for a three-day visit to Nepal, met Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala before his talks with the Maoist chief. He will be meeting Nepal Communist Party-UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal and other senior political leaders too.

He said Prachanda has assured him that Maoists will abide by the 12-point agreement signed between the seven-party alliance and the rebels and also another eight-point pact reached recently between the two sides.

After his meeting with the Maoist chief, Yechury said, he was confident that the rebels would return to the peaceful competitive politics and abandon the path of violence.

There seems to be a crisis of confidence and suspicion between the parties and the Maoists, Yechury said, adding Prachanda has assured him that the rebels would keep on holding dialogue with political parties till all differences are sorted out.