Under pressure at home and abroad, King Gyanendra is said to have cancelled his trip to New York where the UN General Assembly meets later this month.A highly placed government source confirmed that ‘‘the visit has been put on hold’’ but was unable to say whether it had been cancelled altogether. ‘‘You will get to know in due course of time,’’ the source said.The decision to cancel the visit was apparently taken last night after the King consulted two vice-chairpersons of the council of ministers, Tulsi Giri and Kirtinidhi Bista, and foreign minister Rameshnath Pande, the King’s trusted aide who had promised to secure international support for the royal takeover of the kingdom on February 1.It’s not yet clear who would be heading the Nepalese delegation to the UNGA but there are indications that Bista may represent the royal government. The King was supposed to leave Kathmandu on September 9 for Germany and was to address the UNGA on September 16.The decision to scrap the visit comes at a time when Maoist insurgents have announced a unilateral ceasefire, hoping to come to some sort of an understanding with pro-democracy parties.Seven pro-democracy political parties and the Citizens for Peace and Democracy, a mass organisation, had written recently to the UN Secretary General that the King did not represent Nepal and its people.
