It is back to the drawing board for India in Nepal as the Maoist Government fell in Kathmandu on Monday after Prachanda’s resignation. National Security Advisor M K Narayanan is learnt to have immediately called an emergency meeting to assess options while Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon monitored the situation closely through hourly updates.

India had come out in favour of Nepal Army Chief Rookmangud Katawal in the brewing crisis and advised Prachanda not to take any decision without the consensus of alliance partners.

Prachanda was counting on the support of CPN-UML but that failed to happen and under pressure from his cadre, he went ahead with the sacking.

In this context, sources said, New Delhi felt that the first priority was to have a Government installed in Kathmandu at the earliest. Key interlocutors were in touch with the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML to ensure there is no rift in discussions. As of now, the NC has agreed to work under a CPN-UML-led Government.

Even as it appears that a Government would be installed in Nepal, India’s worries emanate from the long-term implications this will have on the peace process which India almost brokered through a complex set of negotiators and negotiations. Left leaders, who at that time were supporting the UPA Government, like Sitaram Yechury, took the lead in reaching out to Prachanda and Baburam Bhattarai so that a peace agreement could be hammered.

From being the artful facilitator, India now finds itself in the middle of the crisis with the Maoists pointing fingers at New Delhi and trying to drag it into a political controversy. So, it was decided to immediately make a statement distancing India from the developments.

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