NEW DELHI, APRIL 15: With the Maoists set to take charge in Kathmandu, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee today spoke to Maoist leader Prachanda over the phone and conveyed India’s willingness to work with his party towards building a stable Nepal. He assured him of India’s support and congratulated him on the victory.

The call, sources say, indicates India’s willingness to abide by the democratic verdict and take the relationship forward so that the next important steps towards drawing up a constitution for Nepal can be achieved through consensus in the Constituent Assembly. It’s further learnt that Baburam Bhattarai is likely to be the Maoist candidate for Prime Minister while Prachanda, who made it clear today that monarchy will end in a month, will look to assume the post of President at a later date.

A couple of days ago, sources said, Nepal PM Girija Prasad Koirala had also spoken to Mukherjee, who made it clear that the verdict of the Nepalese people would have to be honoured. India has played a key role in ensuring that the political consensus for elections to the Constituent Assembly is not broken and that polls are conducted despite occasions when the process seemed to be falling apart due to inter-party rivalries.

There are several issues which will now test the Maoists. They have been in favour of a President with full executive powers in a federally administered Nepal. However, parties like the Nepali Congress have been votaries of the PM being the executive head of government. The details of this model will now be a subject of deliberations in the Constituent Assembly.

While India is not pushing for any particular approach, it has indicated in the past few days to the Maoists that all efforts must aim towards a consensus among all parties. In New Delhi’s view, it is important that the Maoists do not use their superior numbers to force a stand or create a divide among political parties as that would undermine the support for the Constitution in the long term. Already, the Communist Party of Nepal is making noises that it may not participate in the process. The need to finetune political strategies and present a more accommodative attitude towards other parties would be vital for the Maoists.

India, on the other hand, is not much concerned over any “anti-India” sentiment gaining ground with the Maoists winning the elections. South Block is clear that this was an “anti-monarchy” vote given that any party perceived to have links with the Palace has lost in the elections.

Also, the vote is being read as one against old-style dynastic politics given the poor performance of the Koirala family except for Shashank Koirala who was considered a bit of a family rebel. As for India-related issues projected by the Maoists, New Delhi is open to discuss revision of the 1950 Indo-Nepal treaty in case Kathmandu were to make the request.

In fact, there was an attempt in 2000 when both sides agreed to hold consultations on the subject. One round of foreign secretary-level talks also took place, but Nepal was reluctant to do away with some of the special benefits, particularly on free movement of goods and people with no bar on employment opportunities.

Even on the issue of employing Gorkha soldiers, India is willing to discuss the matter as there is domestic pressure from Gorkhas in India’s hill areas to recruit more from within the country. Sources said the number of Nepalese Gorkhas joining the Army has been reducing steadily for this reason alone. However, both these issues would be sensitive for any government in Nepal as it would qualitatively impact employment and business patterns.

The one issue on which India does have some apprehensions is the Maoist plan for a Communist style economy. Sources pointed out that market-unfriendly moves and massive nationalization could prove detrimental. While this is one of the key elements of the Maoist manifesto, the hope here is that there would be a degree of adjustment so that investments into Nepal are not hurt.

On the whole, India feels it is in a better position than most countries given that it led the diplomatic initiative which has now resulted in bringing an insurgent outfit into the political mainstream. More importantly, sources said, the stakes in power have grown for the Maoists after these elections and the onus would now be on them to ensure the political process succeeds.