Nepal: Pawns Corner King

Pawns Corner King The November 17 twelve-point agreement reached between the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) and the seven political parties, with the tacit backing of the Indian government, offers the possibility of breaching the political impasse in Nepal. That the two sides have been able to reach this historic understanding in spite of their many differences owes much to the presence of an autocrat whose ambition until recently was nourished by India, the United States and the European Union. Quite remarkably the king managed to antagonise India to a point where it found it preferable to allow the Maoists and the political parties to meet in Delhi and thrash out a memorandum of understanding (MoU). Verily the monarchy is its worst enemy.